Sengoku Jidai no Hane
by kiseki gurl
Summary: Yuuko and Watanuki travel to the Feudal Era to obtain Sakura's feather. They must now play their cards right in order to withstand against Naraku's and Fei Wong Reed's scheme. InuYasha crossover.
1. Prologue Kei

Prologue Kei

_Prologue Plan_

Naraku was lounging in the dark castle he had invaded some time ago. There was nothing to do really. He was just sitting there thinking of his plot to kill his enemies when Kanna called him.

"Naraku," the pale girl called holding her usual mirror, "Someone wants to give you something. Speak to him using the mirror." Naraku looked at her puzzled. _Who contacts someone using a mirror?_ Nevertheless, Naraku took the mirror.

"Who is this?" Naraku asked coldly.

"My name is Fei Wong Reed," a sinister man with glasses said from the mirror. "I am here to give you something. It's something just as powerful as the _Shikon no Tama_. In might be even more powerful than the jewel when I think about it."

Naraku narrowed his eyes with suspicion. "Why? If this object that you speak of is so powerful, why would give it to me?"

Fei Wong Reed laughed. "I have no use for the object yet. What I need is souls. I want you to use this object to kill of all your enemies, or anyone who stands in your way. Then I shall collect their souls as payment."

"What is this object anyways?" Naraku asked who was already formulating a plan to later kill this Fei Wong Reed in his head.

"Let me send it over." Sure enough, a feather with strange markings came out of Kanna's mirror. The feather clearly emitted something powerful.

"A feather," Naraku said. It was better to play dumb sometimes. The enemy would give you more information that way.

"Not just a feather, it's a young girl's memory. This feather is part of the girl's power." Naraku thought about this for a minute.

"Fine, I will accept it and kill off all the infidels who oppose me. You may take their souls in exchange. I have no use for the souls anyways."

"Excellent," Fei Wong Reed said, "One more thing, there is a certain witch who has been interfering in my plans. Most likely, she'll come and try to interfere in your plans too. Watch out for her, and kill her off using the feather's power. Her soul has a very high price."

"I will," Naraku said simply. He smiled cruelly. There was no way this witch or even Fei Wong Reed will interfere in his plans.

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I think I maybe the only person in the world who keeps on cleaning up their stories, but cleaning is a definite must for me. I noticed I had a lot of hits on the prologue, and after that the number diminishes XD. Well, you just have to live and learn I guess. I originally wanted this prologue really short because I couldn't find something too interesting, but I just recently came up with the idea to actually put Fei Wong Reed's conversation with Naraku. I hope you liked it. I just wonder if it is really possible to use mirrors as a replacements for cell phones :P. Keep on reading, and I'll post a new chapter next weekend. In the meanwhile, I'm going to go clean up my other chapters. See ya ).

Disclaimer: I don't own anything, Rumiko Takahashi and CLAMP does. I won't mention this again because I'm too lazy to keep on typing over and OVER again. Oh and I'm sorry for misspelling Rumiko's last name wrong the first time. Please forgive me bows and covers head. Sayonara (when I first saw the spelling of Syaoran's name I thought it was sayonara)!


	2. Tabiji no Kuchiake

Tabiji no Kuchiake

_Start of a Journey_

"Summer vacation is the best!" Watanuki Kimihiro shouted while running towards Yuuko's house. "Now that Doumeki is going on vacation to Kyoto, I can finally enjoy my free time any way I want! I'M FREE!" With that, Watanuki danced the rest of the way to Yuuko's house without noticing the odd glances he was getting from random pedestrians. He didn't even notice that a mother shielded her young child away from him screaming "Get away from him Hontaru! That boy is dangerous and he obviously has a _mental_ problem!"

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"Watanuki, start packing snacks, clothing, and sake into this backpack," Yuuko ordered as soon as Watanuki came in through the screendoor.

"Why? Are we going somewhere?" Watanuki looked around the house curiously. Yuuko had only left the house on a trip once, and she did not take him at that time.

"Yes."

"Where are we going?"

"The Feudal Era," Yuuko said with a rather excited tone in her voice.

"WHAT? IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE? WAIT A MINUTE; IS THE FEUDAL ERA EVEN SAFE?" Watanuki shouted worriedly. He had a good reason to worry however. Watanuki occasionally went on missions to help Yuuko, and nearly lost his life quite a few times.

"Plenty of demons reside in the Feudal era," Yuuko said ignoring Watanuki's scream of terror, "But we shall be fine. Besides, we have no choice. We must go to our past to retrieve the feather."

"Wait a minute," Watanuki asked, "Do you mean we're going to get Sakura-chan's feather?"

"Yes, an evil adversary has gotten hold of the feather and currently Syaoran and his friends are unable to leave their world. If the evil man keeps the feather too long, our world will collapse and will become evanescent. If you destroy the past, there is no future."

"Okay," Watanuki said. He knew he had to do this, whether he wanted to or not.

"Now make sure to pack a lot of sake and beer for Mokona and ME," Yuuko called out.

"DO YOU ALWAYS HAVE TO DRINK?" Watanuki shouted while Yuuko chuckled deviously.

"Of course," Yuuko answered, "It is my _hitsuzen_ to enjoy all the sake I want."

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Three hours later, Yuuko and Watanuki were in front of a small shrine near the Akasaka district in Tokyo.

"WHY DO I ALWAYS HAVE TO CARRY EVERYTHING?" Watanuki howled. He was wearing a backpack that weighed as much as a boulder, and he was carrying two laptop cases. The case on his left was stuffed with _beer_ and the case on his right was stuffed with _sake_. On top of that kudakitsune was tightly wrapping around his waist while Mokona was screeching an irritating song.

"This is the place," Yuuko said ignoring Watanuki's howling complaints.

They walked to the back of the shrine and inside a dark storeroom that contained a lot of junk and an abandoned well protected with a barrier. Yuuko walked straight up to the well and put her hand over it, shattering the barrier.

"Follow me, into the well that beholds an adventure!" Yuuko exclaimed. She seemed really excited about this journey. With that, she jumped into the well and disappeared.

Watanuki sighed. "Well here it goes," Watanuki said exasperatedly. Mokona was screeching its horrible sound but Kudakitsune was back in Watanuki's backpack howling along to the song. He jumped into the well. Instantly, a snake demon wrapped itself tightly around his neck.

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Well there's not that much editing here. I just edited a few points of the story since Watanuki is like officially OVER Himawari (and he better be since she _is _a threat to his life). I also added Kudakitsune because I forgot about him at first bangs head, and I took out all the unnecessary _hitsuzen _statements. Other than that, it's pretty much the same. The chapters I really didn't like are the prologue and the second chapter so those two will be the ones hacked everywhere.

Oh yes, for those of you who didn't know, hitsuzen means inevitable destiny (for lack of a better term). It's not a term that comes out 100 perfect in translation so I'll keep it in the Japanese term. Hasata leugo (yes we're going around the world because I'm in Spanish I ).


	3. Shinjitsu no Awase

Shinjitsu no Awase

_Facing Reality_

"Yuuko-san," Watanuki tried to choke out, "Help…." He was starting to see a bright light. _Last time I nearly died, everything went black and I almost saw my parents again. How come there's a bright light this time? _A second later, the bright light was turned off. Watanuki looked around. Yuuko was standing to his right holding a huge golden staff.

"You saved me right?" Watanuki asked. Yuuko nodded, her expression was unreadable.

Watanuki smiled, "I guess I'm going to have to pay for it this time."

"Of course," Yuuko said smiling, "Everything has a price whether you like it or not. Just help me throughout this journey, okay? You can also do some extra housework when get back."

Watanuki made a face. Just thinking about all the extra chores was a living hell on Earth. He didn't complain though; there was something he had been desiring to ask.

"Yuuko-san," Watanuki asked, "Who are we exactly going against and did he send these demons to attack us?"

"The person that is trying to stop us is Naraku. He is the one who sent these demons to attack us. I'm sure he was forewarned of our arrival."

"Will we be okay?" Watanuki asked petting Kudakitsune. A second later, he realized this was a stupid question.

"Of course we will. Now, let's go!" Yuuko exclaimed excitedly. She climbed up the well screeching the same horrible song Mokona had sang before. Watanuki sighed and followed.

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One climb out and one horrible earache later (Mokona had joined in during the chorus, and Kudakitsune howled the background voices) Watanuki was out of the well. He looked out and saw he that was in some clearing of an ancient forest. There was a large tree that looked reminiscent of a tree Watanuki saw back at the shrine. The scene was breathtaking and awe inspiring. However, he was not given much time to enjoy his surroundings.

"Someone's coming," Yuuko stated looking towards the right towards a grove of trees. An instant later, Watanuki heard the sounds of footsteps.

An elderly woman with an eye patch came out from the grove riding a magnificent brown horse. She was closely followed by some crude soldiers on horseback. They quickly circled Yuuko and Watanuki.

"Who are you?" the old woman asked the tone of her voice cold and suspicious.

"To many, I am known as the Witch of Dimensions." The warriors instinctively drew their weapons. Watanuki reached into his backpack. He couldn't fight, but he could chuck Mokona worse come worse.

"I have no intentions of harming you," Yuuko said looking at the warriors. "I merely desire to ask if you know where Naraku is."

"Why do you ask?"

"He has something that belongs to one of my clients."

"What do you mean by clients?"

"My job is to grant wishes." Instantly the warriors lowered their weapons.

"Really…?" the old woman asked looking rather flustered.

"Yes, but first you must tell me your name," Yuuko responded.

"Kayede," the old woman said.

"Kayede-sama," Yuuko said closing her eyes and looking rather melancholy, "Nothing can bring your sister back alive." The poor old woman looked as if she was going to burst into tears.

"But…"

"Your sister was never truly brought back from the dead. Nothing can bring the dead back because no price is sufficient enough. _If someone is brought back from the dead, they will lead a cursed life and they will soon die again._ "

"So with every wish comes with an equal price," Kayede said.

"Exactly," Yuuko said. Nobody said anything for a minute.

"You must be truly powerful, Witch of Dimensions," Kayede said breaking the silence, "I believe Naraku is located up north. I hope you are successful on your journey."

"Thank you," Yuuko answered politely, "I was also wondering….is it possible to stay here for the night? Watanuki will _voluntarily_ make dinner for you and your warriors."

"Voluntarily…….?" Watanuki gritted from his teeth.

"Of course," Kayede replied. Watanuki sighed and started to walk towards to the kitchen to make dinner when he realized he only had a fire to work with.

"BUT HOW WILL I….." he started.

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The next afternoon, Yuuko and Watanuki were walking north to find Naraku. They had been walking for five hours and Watanuki was rather hungry and exhausted. However, Yuuko was fine thanks to the many snacks she made Watanuki carry.

"Do you know where to find Naraku?" Watanuki asked worriedly.

"I have an approximation," Yuuko said calmly, "Enjoy the time that we're having alone. We will have some companions who will help us soon. Don't worry about finding Naraku right now."

"Why?"

"Naraku has sent someone to greet us. I believe he wants me to grant a wish."

With that, a young man with a long ponytail stepped out. Something about him made Watanuki feel rather sick.

"You must be the Witch of Dimensions. Congratulations on making it past the well," the man said in a rather dangerous tone.

"And you must be one of Naraku's incarnations," Yuuko answered coolly.

"Correct." The man looked rather taken aback. So did Watanuki.

"Incarnations?" Watanuki asked.

"Naraku's asexual," Yuuko muttered. Watanuki ran to the nearest bush to puke.

"My name is Byakuya," the man said. "Naraku wants to know if you can grant his wish that is if you _really_ do grant wishes."

"I do grant wishes; I can assure you that" Yuuko said, "However Naraku's wish cannot be granted, he is unable to afford the price."

"Naraku figured there would be a payment. How do you know he is unable to pay? "

"If Naraku can not even show up on his own and ask for his wish, there is no way he can part with anything as precious as his payment."

Byakuya glared at her. "Naraku will hear about this." All of sudden there was a large noise coming from the distance. Watanuki's first instinctive guess was that there was a stampede of screaming elephants coming.

"I can smell his scent right there!" a man called from the distance.

"Well see ya later, if you manage to survive past Naraku." With that, Byakuya flew away on top of a paper crane

The stampede stopped. Both Yuuko and Watanuki looked to the front. Watanuki's first guess was completely wrong, there were no elephants coming. Instead, he found himself standing in front of the strangest group of travelers Watanuki had ever seen in his life. Before he had time to register their startling appearance, a man with silver hears and cat ears walked towards them. He wielded a massive sword and pointed it directly at Yuuko.

"Are you one of Naraku's incarnations bitch?"

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Old Comments: Hurrah, it's the author's section! I'm in Hawaii right now but I'm happy that I finally got off my butt and typed this out. Anyways, first come first, Bakuya is an actually Inuyasha character. He is technically Kagura's replacement since she is dead forever. Also, Kikyou is dead too and she is not coming back. How do I know this? I keep up with the manga weekly. If you want to keep up with the manga too e-mail me and I'll give you some links. Second of all, to the one person who asked, I kicked Doumeki out of this fic because Doumeki seriously needs to take a vacation. Just remember, people can exist in different worlds so don't rule him out yet. Third, I am actually updating earlier than I planned since I was planning to not even touch this fic while I'm in Hawaii. However, I'm going to be super-busy when I come back with exams, try-outs, testing, and auditions so I decided to publish this chapter. Lastly, thank you to everyone who has been kind enough to read this fic all the way through and a special thank you to the people who commented. This is the first fic I have officially published so I am very thankful. Hopefully I will be able to keep it up. Thank you again )!

New Comments: Man! This chapter was REALLY MESSY. I found so many mistakes! I'm glad I decided to clean this up. Well I think I'm going to leave chapter 3 alone, unless I find a grammar/spelling mistake. Other than that, I think its okay. With this chapter, I was mainly concerned about Watanuki's reaction when Yuuko saved him. He's not that low as to complain about his price instead of thanking Yuuko for saving his ass. No, this is not my inner support of Yuuko x Watanuki, this is about portraying Watanuki with the depth that he has. Besides that, I just tried to make everything sound less corny (and I got that weird idea about elephants), and I found out Byakuya flies away on a paper crane. That's pretty much it.


	4. Yuuko VS Inuyasha

Yuuko VS Inuyasha

"Well _are _you?" the dog-eared man asked. Yuuko did not answer. Instead her eyes lingered towards his sword.

"You have inherited Tessaiga from your father correct?" The dog-eared man looked astonished. He nodded.

"What a powerful sword Tessaiga has become," Yuuko stated, "It is unfortunate that you wield Tessaiga with the manner of a child swinging around his toy. I'm afraid you are easy prey for Naraku." Instantly, the man's look of astonishment vanished. An expression of rage and fury was on his face as he brought his sword up.

"Mokona get my staff." Yuuko said looking towards Watanuki. The Black Mokona ran up to Yuuko and out came a large, golden staff from its mouth. Mokona ran back to Watanuki, but not before saying, "That man is an ugly half demon. He's such a scary monster isn't he?"

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU KNOW YOU DUMBASSES?" the man screamed as he swung his sword down on Yuuko", I'LL KILL YOU BITCH! RYUURIN TESSAIGA!" However, nothing happened as the man's sword hit a barrier that was protecting Yuuko. The man's attempt at absorbing Yuuko's powers had failed.

"That type of attack will not work," Yuuko said coolly.

"Dammit," muttered the man. "KONGOUSOUHA! BAKURYHHA! KAZE NO KIZU!" With that, came a huge blast of something deadly yellow, with huge waves surrounding it. On top of it, bunches of spear-like diamonds were flying everywhere. The man's companions, Watanuki, and Mokona ran for it.

"HEY WATCH WHERE YOU AIM INUYASHA!" screamed a little fox demon.

"WATCH OUT YUUKO-SAN!" Watanuki screamed. He had no idea what to do to save her. But a second later, Yuuko was still standing unscathed.

"I can't believe it….," whispered a girl who was strangely dressed in a school uniform.

"That witch didn't even get a scratch," another girl said who was dressed as some type of warrior. Watanuki noticed that the guy next to her, dressed as monk, was staring at Yuuko in a way that could mean no good.

Inuyasha looked furious. He ran at Yuuko and swung his sword at Yuuko's head. However, Yuuko was faster than him and was able to use her staff to knock Tessaiga right out of Inuyasha's hand.

"Osuwarii," Yuuko ordered. The next thing Inuyasha knew, he was face flat on the ground.

"How did you do that?" the schoolgirl asked, "I thought I was the only one who could order him to sit down."

"Ahh…but I was able to interfere with the spell on the necklace," Yuuko answered with a chuckle. "Besides this is all with good intentions, I just need to tell you your results."

"Results?"

"Here they are," Yuuko announced, "You fail! If I was really in league with Naraku; you would be dead by now, Osuwarii."

"So you're not Naraku's…?" Inuyasha asked in a muffled tone.

"No I'm not. But don't worry; sometimes you have to sit (Osuwarii) before you succeed. Let me give you some pointers before Naraku comes here."

"He's coming?" the monk asked.

"Yes he is. So let me give you a little advice. Osuwarii. First of all, wan-wan-chan (little doggie)….."

"It's Inuyasha!"

"Fine, Inuyasha-wan. Anyways, like I said before you need to work on your technique. Osuwarii. All you rely on is your sword, and when someone can get past that you're on the ground. Osuwarii."

"Do you have to keep on saying that? That hurts." Inuyasha asked angrily.

"It's kind of fun to say it. Let me get it out of my system; Osuwarii, Osuwarii, Osuwarii, Osuwarii, Osuwarii, Osuwarii, Osuwarii, Osuwarii, Osuwarii, Osuwarii, Osuwarii, Osuwarii, Osuwarii, Osuwarii, Osuwarii, Osuwarii, Osuwarii, Osuwarii, Osuwarii, Osuwarii, Osuwarii, Osuwarii, Osuwarii, Osuwarii, Osuwarii, Osuwarii, Osuwarii, Osuwarii, Osuwarii, Osuwarii, Osuwarii, Osuwarii, Osuwarii, Osuwarii, Osuwarii, Osuwarii, Osuwarii, Osuwarii, Osuwarii, Osuwarii, Osuwarii, Osuwarii, Osuwarii, Osuwarii, Osuwarii, Osuwarii, Osuwarii, Osuwarii, Osuwarii, Osuwarii, Osuwarii, Osuwarii, Osuwarii, Osuwarii, Osuwarii, Osuwarii, Osuwarii, Osuwarii, Osuwarii, Osuwarii, Osuwarii, Osuwarii, Osuwarii, Osuwarii, Osuwarii, Osuwarii, Osuwarii, Osuwarii, Osuwarii, Osuwarii, Osuwarii, Osuwarii, Osuwarii, Osuwarii, Osuwarii, Osuwarii, Osuwarii, Osuwarii, Osuwarii, Osuwarii, Osuwarii, Osuwarii, Osuwarii, Osuwarii, Osuwarii, Osuwarii, Osuwarii, Osuwarii, Osuwarii, Osuwarii, Osuwarii, Osuwarii, Osuwarii. There I'm done saying it." Inuyasha gave a noise of assent from a massive hole in the ground.

"Now to continue. You need to have some sort of plan if you want to win against someone. For example, there are five of you in the group yet Inuyasha-wan are the only one who seems to be doing anything fighting. The rest of you could have kidnapped Watanuki over there and threatened to kill him."

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU SAYING?" Watanuki screamed "I SERVE YOU EVERY DAY AND YOU'RE JUST SUGGESTING TO KILL ME OFF!"

"Or you could have helped Inuyasha fight at least. Now tell me your names."

"My name is Higurashi Kagome," the schoolgirl said.

"I'm Shippou!" said the little fox demon. "And that's Sango and Miroku over there. Kirara is curling up over there. What about you?"

"To some I am known as the Dimension Witch. However I am also known as Ichihara Yuuko. You may call me Yuuko, but keep in mind that I'm not idiotic enough to give out my real name." Everyone looked at Yuuko with rather sour.

"If you don't mind me asking," Kagome said, "Where are you from?"

"Tokyo."

"That's impossible! How did you go through the well?"

"To get through the well, you simply need to break the barrier. The reason you two can go through it is because Clow allowed the barrier to disperse at your presence."

"Clow…?"

"He was the one who created the well. He figured you two kids would need it one day."

"Wait a minute, how the hell does you know all of this?"

"Clow told me Inuyasha-wan. However, Clow really made that barrier just so he could see Modiriko, that womanizing pain in the ass. Now as pleasant as our conversation was, Naraku's on his way right now. I hope you have learned your lesson. I'll accept your payment later."

"Payment?" everyone asked.

"Oh Mokona, get out the spear." Mokona choked up a large, golden spear and handed it to Watanuki.

"Mokona," Watanuki said exasperatedly, "This is for Yuuko-san."

"Actually, it's for you Watanuki, to fight against Naraku."

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Osuwarii is the Japanese command for a dog to sit. I used it because there isn't a word in English that specifically commands a dog to sit if you get what I mean.

Wan-wan is the sound that doggies make in Japan. The reason why Yuuko calls Inuyasha "Inuyasha-wan" is simply because that's just her LOL.

Okay, I give you official permission to stone me. I've been procrastinating on putting up this chapter. However, I did put up a songfic _Your Color_. For all of you who read it, I hope you liked it ). Anyways, enough for the advertising, I hope you liked this chapter. It gives me such a headache, especially the Inuyasha & Yuuko duel. That's why it's short. I just couldn't come up with anymore than that. Now, I also made quite a few edits and changes. The biggest one is that I officially took Yuuko x Watanuki as a couple. As much as I love that pairing, I just can't put them in this story. There isn't going to be any crossover pairings (so don't ever worry about Inuyasha getting it on with Yuuko or something LOL). However, there are going to be hints of this and hints of that. Well thank you for reading and check for the next chapter (how the hell Watanuki is going to fight is beyond me).

EDIT AGAIN: Thanks to Green Fairy Hime I will be stuffing in hints of Yuuko x Watanuki. One of my friends could smell hints in this chapter anyways. I'm still not going to put up any fluff….unless I'm totally out of ideas. Or I'll write it immediately if CLAMP actually makes Yuuko x Watanuki _canon_ as an ovation (like that's going to happen…..with all the Donuts fans here, besides CLAMP is renowned for their homo pairings anyways). Oh yes, I also lied. I did edit this chapter. Nothing major really, I just made edited the grammar mostly. I also made some word changes, and added a lot of Osuwariis. Also, this title is in English because I don't know what VS is in Japanese. I couldn't come up with a better title.


	5. Ryoku

Ryoku

_Power_

"Fight?" Watanuki asked blankly. He was sure his ears were mistaken. He had never taken any type of martial arts, kendo, or archery class in his life. How the heck was he going to fight with a _spear_?

"You heard me the first time Watanuki," Yuuko answered impatiently. "All you have to do is fend off the minor demons. I'll take care of Naraku."

"You're wrong about that Witch," Inuyasha growled in a tone that made Watanuki jump. "I'll be the one to kill Naraku," Inuyasha continued.

"Don't worry," a cruel voice rang out, "The Witch won't even survive." A man wearing a baboon suit stepped out.

"You say you cannot grant my wish," the man said in a menacing tone that boasted of hatred, "What do you say now? Will you grant my wish?"

"My answer has not changed Naraku," Yuuko answered coolly, "We both know you cannot afford the price."

"Are sure of that?" Naraku asked in a deadly tone. Every syllable that was spoken overflowed with hatred.

"If you really want me to grant your wish, hand over the _whole_ Shikon no Tama." Naraku did not answer or look at Yuuko. "Then I am hereby unable to grant your wish." Naraku shot a look of deepest disgust and then one a tentacle shot out from his body towards Yuuko. The tentacle was quickly repelled.

As Naraku lunged for his second attack, hoards of demons soared from every direction, their eyes feasting for a kill. Inuyasha had gotten that massive Tessaiga out and attacked all the demons with his Kaze no Kisu. The blazing yellow beam engulfed the demons and then they were evanescent. Behind Inuyasha, that school girl Kagome fired an arrow at the massive stream of demons. They also became evanescent along with a pure, white glow. Watanuki was instantly reminded of Doumeki. For once it would have been _nice_ to have him around at a time like this. Especially since his life was in danger.

Meanwhile, the monk Miroku was attacking the incoming demons with his staff. He also threw in powerful ofuada paper strips. Then all of a sudden, the monk stopped and looked up hesitantly at some poisonous bees. The next thing that he knew, there was an alarmingly massive boomerang flying towards them. The bees flew off a little as the boomerang flew back to its owner, Sango. She retrieved her boomerang, swung it around a few times in a 360 degree angle, screamed "_Hiraikotsu", _and released it eliminating about forty demons in three seconds.

Despite the successes of his newly-found comrades, Watanuki was having a rather stressful time fending off the demons. First, he tried running away with the spear in his hand screaming "_GET AWAY!"_ twenty times, his voice going up an octave each time he said the phrase (his voice ended up cracking). However, this did not work, and he was soon cornered by about a hundred demons. As an act of desperation, Watanuki shut his eyes and started stabbing the air randomly. He often felt like he was hitting something solid. A minute later, Watanuki opened his eyes to find all the demons dead. The demon cat with Sango was standing on top of one of the dead carcasses.

Just as Watanuki was starting to get to the hang of fighting with a spear later, he noticed that Miroku put a couple of ofuadas on Sango's hiraikotsu despite the fact that there were hardly any demons left on their side (Watanuki's side still had a quite a few). Then he realized what was going on when he saw Kagome and Inuyasha point their weapons at Naraku. They had used their wits and followed Yuuko's advice. Thankfully, Naraku did not notice any of this due to the fact he was failing in every attempt to injure Yuuko (though he was certainly boring her to death), and ended up pausing from exhaustion.

The next second there was a soundscape of warfare as a massive wave of piercing diamonds, pure white light, blazing beams, and one hiraikotsu headed towards Naraku. As the blazing white light engulfed Naraku, everyone looked at each other as they wondered if this was the moment of their glorious victory. Well everyone except for Yuuko, who stepped directly in between the path of Naraku and his four attackers. A second later, the hiraikotsu flew out to the left and the massive wave _came back _along with a dark, sickening light. The wave hit Yuuko's barrier, weakened a bit, and continued onwards. Inuyasha, Kagome, Miroku, and Sango all fainted on the spot.

Naraku, who was desperately injured, didn't even look at his victims. "Byakuya…." He called. Instantly, the man from before came on his paper crane. Along with Byakuya, came three bees each holding a miniscule shard. The shards flew to Yuuko.

"Consider this your payment to escape," Yuuko said menacingly. Naraku gave Yuuko a most horrifying death glare before hopping on a paper crane. Together Naraku and Byakuya flew off.

Shippou came out from his hiding place. He opened his mouth to speak, but Yuuko spoke to him first.

"I have done all that I can. Your friends cannot afford any more luxuries. They are already in great debt." Shippou nodded panickly.

"Now, we need to transport everyone to a safe place where they can heal. Shippou, you will need to transform head out west, and scout out for a place. Tell Kirara to carry two of your companions."

"Will I have to leave someone behind?" Shippou whimpered worriedly.

"I can have Kudakitsune transform temporarily and carry the other two. However, you will need to pay a price."

"I'll pay it. Now can you quickly transform Kudakitsune?" Shippou said quickly

"You are willing to pay the price even though you don't know what it is?"

"Yes."

She put a hand on Kudakitsune's head and it transformed into a large fox. "Watanuki and I will join you later. First we need to make a business trip to a familiar face. Good luck."

XxX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------XxX

A couple of hours later, Watanuki and Yuuko were walking in a majestic forest clearing. However, Watanuki seemed to be very concerned about something. His face showed an expression of worry and he didn't seem to notice his luscious surroundings. He didn't even notice that Yuuko stopped to pick a bouquet of yellow flowers.

"There's something on your mind," Yuuko stated as she put a flower in her hair.

"Are those people going to be okay, that Inuyasha person and the others?" Watanuki asked worryingly.

"They'll be just fine. Shippou will get them to safety in time. Besides, I weakened the attack so that they wouldn't waste away. They have much to pay." Yuuko gave Watanuki a gentle smile. Watanuki sighed with relief. The last thing he wanted to see was someone dying. Killing those demons and sensing their auras had been more than enough.

"Also, about the customer we're going to visit. What do you mean by a familiar face?"

"Do you remember what I said about people in different worlds?" Watanuki thought about it for a second. _That was the day that Syaoran came to save Sakura-hime Yuuko had said that everybody exists in different worlds leading different lives, but sharing the same soul_. Watanuki said the last sentence out loud to Yuuko.

"Correct."

"So who are we going to see?"

"You will find out soon enough. The village is just up ahead. Now stop worrying Watanuki. We won't get attacked for a while." Watanuki instantly turned pale.

"Even if we do get attacked, we will both be fine. I'm sure of it. Now cheer up Watanuki!" With that, Yuuko took a yellow flower out from the bouquet and placed it in Watanuki's hair.

"What's this for…….?" Watanuki stammered.

"Yellow is the color of happiness. If you wear something yellow, you'll look more cheerful. Besides it looks good on you!" Yuuko said happily.

"It does….?" Watanuki asked with great incredulity.

"Yes it does! Now when we get back home we can go to Shibuya 109 and get you a _pretty, yellow, lacy dress_ to match! After that, you can do some extra housework for the flower and the dress. Doesn't that sound like fun?"

"WHAT THE ……."

"Hurry up Watanuki! We're almost there!" Watanuki sighed, walking a little faster. He almost raised his hand to brush off the flower, but then he lowered it. Somehow, the flower did make him feel more cheerful. He looked at Yuuko who as happily putting a flower in Mokona's ear. Yuuko still had the flower in her hair. While the flower would never match Watanuki's outfit (he was not planning to ever get the dress), it somehow managed to match Yuuko's beautiful, flowing, blue dress. Out of all the times Watanuki had seen Yuuko, he had never seen her Yuuko look so happy…and beautiful.

XxX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------XxX

Fifteen minutes later, they arrived at the village. "We're here!" cried Mokona uselessly. Just as their arrival was being announced, a little boy spotted Mokona with a look of pure terror.

"DADDY! HELP ME!" the little boy cried.

"What is it now Kentaro?" called a voice that Watanuki vaguely recognized. A second later, a man stepped out from a little hut. Watanuki instantly remembered who he was.

"Daddy…that thing," Kentaro whimpered.

"I'm not that thing!" Mokona said feeling insulted. "I'm Mokona Modoki!"

"Whatever you are, stay back from my son you black manjuu," the man cried angrily.

"That thing is a meat bun Daddy?"

"It sure looks like a meat bun but it could be dangerous."

"Mokona will not harm anyone," Yuuko said.

"Who are you?" the man asked rudely.

"My name is Ichihara Yuuko. I am known as the Witch of Dimensions. What about you?"

"Heh," the man said, "My name is Kurogane. I assume you are powerful Witch. What are you here for? Are you planning to harm my son and wife? If you do…."

"I will not doing anything of that sort. On the contrary, I grant wishes." Kurogane looked at Yuuko in a different light.

"Wishes…?"

"Yes. That is what I do for a living."

"There must be a catch," Kurogane said instantly.

"There is a price that will be determined by the wish."

"So that's it," Kurogane muttered. He paused for a second. "Fine," Kurogane said, "I wish for something that will give me power."

"Why?"

"I need to protect my wife and son," Kurogane said shortly.

"You are not satisfied with the protection you gave your wife and _children_?" Kurogane stopped short.

"No. I'm guessing you somehow found about my daughter." Kurogane said quietly.

"Yes I did. Now why don't you learn to fight the demons yourself?" Kurogane glared.

"I'm a poor man. I cannot afford a weapon. I can't wait any longer; I need to protect my family. I NEED TO PROTECT MY WIFE AND MY SON. I COULDN'T SAVE MY DAUGHTER FROM THAT DEMON SO I MUST DO EVERYTHING THAT I CAN TO SAVE MY FAMILY NO MATTER WHAT!" Kurogane hollered angrily. After that, Kurogane panted and looked away from his sons.

"You truly want this item then." Yuuko said emotionlessly.

"Before I say okay," Kurogane said, "I have to ask one more thing. Will anyone die if my wish is granted?"

"If you use the item according to my instructions then everyone should be fine." Yuuko said.

"Also," Kurogane said, "What is the price?"

"Your daughter's doll," Yuuko said simply. Kurogane was silent for a minute. "Let me get it," he said in an expressionless voice. Kurogane stepped inside the hut. There were voices ringing, clearly debating the current situation. Then after a few minutes, Kurogane came out with a rag doll with massive pitch-black eyes."

"Here…" Kurogane said slowly handing over the doll.

"Thank you. However, your item is not quite finished. I need to put some final touches on it. I will deliver it tonight; you do not need to have any doubts in your mind."

Kurogane didn't say anything. Yuuko and Watanuki walked away.

XxX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------XxX

"Yuuko-san," Watanuki said later. "Why did you take away the doll as the price?"

"That doll meant a lot to Kurogane because his daughter cherished it," Yuuko said simply. However, the explanation still seemed inadequate to Watanuki. The item that Kurogane was going to get was probably not that cheap. There must be something that Yuuko was not telling him. Yuuko hardly ever told Watanuki the whole picture anyways.

"There's something else, isn't there Yuuko-san?"

"What is a doll?" Yuuko asked. Watanuki thought about it for a minute.

"A doll is a toy that children play with….."

"No. At least, that is not the true meaning of a doll. _A doll is a person frozen in time._"

"I don't understand," Watanuki asked sounding slightly disturbed, "How is a doll a person frozen in time."

"A doll is a model of a person: a model of a person in one particular snapshot, or a frozen moment in time. That is why I took away the doll."

Watanuki understood what was going on immediately. Inside the doll, there lay the spirit of Kurogane's daughter. Watanuki wanted to go and meet the others immediately. He knew Kurogane's item would be as dark and twisted as his price. Watanuki eyed the doll. A chill rose up his spine as the doll was slowly smirking at Watanuki, its eyes flashing red.

XxX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------XxX

It looks like sexy's back now that Kurogane's in the act (yes that was supposed to sound lame XD). Wow, this is an unusually long chapter. I'm surprised because I actually delayed the part that I've been itching to type. Anyways, lots of editing going on. I'm now printing out every chapter I type, and self-correcting in red ink. All the chapters look really blood red after a while. I guess I've been on edit mode ever since school started. Seriously, I've edited the prologue four times. I guess that's better because it's hopefully perfect.

Anyways, if you're wondering how the hell I got the phrase, a doll is a person frozen in time; I just randomly made it up. This has a story behind it though. One of my friends was talking about how she wanted to a creepy doll photo shoot because dolls are supposed to be creepy, so I came up with the phrase. It kind of makes sense to me though, especially with that cop-out explanation I made up for my dad originally.

I will be updating on Fridays from now on, or early Saturday. Hopefully I'll update weekly. If my schoolwork doesn't get the best of me; I'm such a procrastinator. I was thinking of starting a crossover C2 , any opinions on this? Also, I want to wish a belated birthday to night foliage, I'll drop off your gift tomorrow if you're reading this )! Also, I want to wish a very belated birthday to angelfirelord. Lastly, thank you for reading this again, and look forward to the next chapter. Now I'm off to the back to school dance!


	6. Yuuwaku

Temptation

_Yuuwaku_

A sunset draped over Sengoku Jidai. The splatters of pink, orange, and yellow was artfully blended in the sky. What was left of the red sun was majestically illuminating the breathtaking portrait. At a cluster of shabby huts in the west, Watanuki was preparing dinner.

"NO Mokona," Watanuki scolded at the little black creature that was jumping up and down, trying to taste dinner. "The sukiyaki isn't ready yet! Wait a minute. The same goes for you Kudakitsune." Kudakitsune was wrapping itself around Watanuki's waist, also trying to get a shot at the sukiyaki.

Watanuki sighed. It was very irksome to cook outdoors. The only thing he had was the ingredients and a log fire. Watanuki looked over to his left, but he quickly turned his head away. The doll was lying over there.

Even though Watanuki knew everything there was know to about the doll, managed to void his gut. Every time he stared at the doll, it would smirk back sinisterly at him. The more Watanuki stared at the doll, the brighter its red eyes gleamed.

"Is it ready yet?" Watanuki looked up. Standing next to him was Yuuko. She was smoking that nasty pipe of hers while shooting the sukiyaki a ravenous look.

Watanuki had not mentioned anything about the doll to Yuuko. She had surprisingly given him all the information he had needed. There was no point to say anything more. For the rest of the journey back, Watanuki had walked in silence thinking about what Yuuko had said to him.

_A doll is a person frozen in time_. Everything about that sentence had silently stabbed him in the inside with utmost horror. The theory of it all was just excruciatingly disturbing; the little girl's soul would be forever paused in time, consumed with rage.

"Watanuki…."

"The sukiyaki's ready Yuuko-san," Watanuki said expressionlessly. Watanuki looked up at Yuuko and noticed that she still had the flower in her hair. He reached him arm up to his own hair and felt around for the flower. He was most relived as he felt the smooth petals. Thinking about the flower warmed his insides slowly like a cup of steaming green tea on frigid and cold day.

"Mmmm….." Yuuko said in satisfaction. "The first one always tastes the best!"

"Yes! It sure does!" Mokona cried happily. It was enjoying the sukiyaki along with Kudakitsune.

"This is going to be your _only _bowl," Watanuki scolded, "I still have to give dinner to the rest of our party; not to mention that I need to eat myself. Besides people with weight problems generally eat more than their one and only portion."

"Are you calling me _fat_….," Yuuko said slowly, her eyes reminiscent of the little girl's doll.

"No m'am," Watanuki said, backing away as fast as he could.

"Watanuki called Yuuko fat! Watanuki is a meanie! Watanuki is going to be in trouble!" Mokona was bouncing up and down, eagerly watching the scene.

Watanuki took a few bowls of sukiyaki and ran for his life.

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Kagome opened her eyes. She was lying on a sleeping bag in an old, shabby, and cramped wooden hut. It didn't matter really; she had endured through worse. She sat up and look at the picturesque sunset. It reminded her of the many times she was together with her friends. _Where is everyone?_

"Kagome-chan…" Sango moaned, slowly sitting up.

"Sango-chan!" Kagome cried happily, "You're all right!"

"Of course," Sango said smiling. She looked outside at the window too. "It looks like we slept through the day."

"You sure have," said a voice to the right. Kagome and Sango looked around.

"Shippou-chan!" they cried.

"I brought you guys over here," Shippou said proudly, "According to Yuuko-san, I have to pay the price later but I was able to bring you guys here on time." Nobody said anything for a moment.

"Thank you Shippou-chan," Kagome said softly. They all looked at each other with gentle smiles. The smiles emitted a soft, pure light reminiscent of an infant's valance. However, there was something missing in this fantastic portrait.

"Shippou-chan," Kagome asked, "Where's Inuyasha and Miroku?"

"They're resting in hut next door," a different voice said from the doorway. All three of them looked up. It was that boy with Yuuko. He was holding three bowls of steaming sukiyaki. "Yuuko-san insisted for you to be separated." An awkward silence shrouded them.

"Here," the boy said breaking the silence and handing them the bowls of sukiyaki. Kagome and Sango looked at each other wondering if he really did work for that selfish witch.

"Thank you," Kagome said politely, "This is really good!"

"It sure is!" Shippou said happily eating the sukiyaki. "Did you know that you have a flower in your hair?"

The boy took the flower from his hair but he didn't set it down. "Oh it wasn't a problem really. I just had difficulties at first because I'm used to cooking in a kitchen."

"You made this?" Sango inquired surprisingly.

"You're really good at cooking," Kagome said, "By the way what's your name? I feel awkward calling you without just you."

"Oh…it's Watanuki. You're Kagome, Sango, and Shippou right?"

"Yup!" Shippou said happily.

"Watanuki," Sango said, "I was wondering, where did you learn to cook so well?"

"I have to cook for Yuuko-san all the time since I work for her," Watanuki said sounding slightly annoyed.

"I see…"

"Where is Yuuko-san?" Shippou asked curiously.

"I think she's in the other hut. She said something about finding something _entertaining_…." Watanuki stopped mid-sentence backing up from the spectral looks on Kagome's and Sango's faces. How many times was he going to be plagued with this flaming red-eye curse? Both Watanuki and Shippou slowly followed Kagome and Sango out of the hut in abhorrence.

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In the next hut over, Miroku had just woken up. He found himself staring at a wooden ceiling that was far from prime condition. "_Where am I?"_

He sat up and saw that Inuyasha stirring on his right. He tried to think of what had just happened. Then he looked at his freshly healed wounds. _"That's right; we were attacked by that bastard Naraku. So who saved us?" _

His answer came through the door. The Dimension Witch came in through the door. She was wearing a dress that was made out of flowing silk. The dress had very thin straps and it hung down low enough to show a fair amount of cleavage. Her dress seductively showcased her curves that forced all eyes on her. She was wearing a yellow flower in her hair that matched the yellow flowers splattered on her sky blue dress. The room's atmosphere suddenly seemed to have a mystifying, sultry aura.

"You…." Inuyasha muttered.

"I told you Inuyasha-wan; call me Yuuko," Yuuko answered playfully. Miroku instinctively moved his hand over but he stopped at the look she had given him. It was as if her eyes were saying _"You cannot afford this so keep your hands to yourself for now."_ Miroku decided to clear this up.

"You saved us right?" Miroku asked. Yuuko nodded as Inuyasha looked on in mild astonishment. "Do we have to pay you some type of price since you saved our lives?"

"Price…?" Inuyasha asked blankly. He hoped it wasn't true. Anything that this Witch demanded would be hell to pay.

"Yes," Yuuko answered with a sly grin, "I did mention a price." Inuyasha instantly knew that they were doomed.

"So we have to pay you a price because you saved us?" Inuyasha blurted out. He prayed that they didn't have to, but he knew deep inside it was no use.

"Yes. You must also pay for the training session. On top of that, in order to transport you here, I had to transform Kudakitsune. You have to pay for that too."

"Why do we have to pay?" Inuyasha and Miroku blurted out at the same time.

"When I grant a wish, I must receive payment back of equal value. You wished for all this, so you inevitably pay the price of equal value."

"So what do we have to give you?"

"I want you boys to retrieve for me Aeris, the butterfly of hope."

"The butterfly of hope…?" Miroku asked.

"The butterfly restores all desire left in your soul. It is particularly useful on someone who is recklessly putting their life in danger." Miroku knew Yuuko was talking about him.

"So how do we get it?" Inuyasha asked.

"First you need to get Tessaiga. I left it outside."

"Right…"

"Also, invite the rest of your companions to come inside and chat." Inuyasha nodded and then he turned to leave. "_Perfect," _Yuuko thought, _"It's time to let the temptation consume the soul."_

XxX------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------XxX

"Yuuko-sama," Miroku asked in a tone too casual to be sincere, "I would like to tell you the story of my grandfather.

"Your grandfather was cursed with the Kazanna by Naraku. You and your father inherited the Kazanna in your right hand."

Miroku stared at Yuuko in awe. There was nothing he could hide from this woman. "You are the most omniscient person that I have ever met." Yuuko smiled secretively. Miroku wondered if she knew what he was going to say next.

"I also wish for a child to continue my search for Naraku if I die. In order to get rid of the Kazanna, I need to slay Naraku."

"So in other words you wish for an heir." Miroku nodded.

"So I was wondering if you would _bear_ my child," Miroku said in a rush. He was completely devoid of the fact that his fiancé was smoldering in rage outside. Yuuko was a silent for a moment, her face delicately painted into an expression of deep thought. Then she smiled flirtatiously.

"Well I do grant wishes," Yuuko said in a sweet tone as the spectators' jaws dropped that gave an impression of a certain mummy, "Let's see here…I think you should wish to have a trial first. It would certainly be something that you can afford. However, I want you to obtain Aeris first to clear your debts. That should also give you some time for you to think it over."

"Okay," Miroku said sounding slightly disappointed. He didn't like the thought of waiting. Yuuko noticed this and leaned towards him as she slowly adjusted the straps on her dress so that they went down to her shoulders. After he got a good look at her bare shoulders, she slowly put them back up. She was very close to him now; Miroku could swear he could feel her body heart radiating towards him. Her face inched closer towards his as she tilted her head and whispered seductively in his ear.

"Don't despair," Yuuko whispered coyly, "Sometimes you must wait for the best things. After the wait, you realize that it's worth the wait. This is certainly one of those certain things. After all some things are naturally _satisfying_." After that she pulled back just as Miroku's body was inching slightly forward. However, he met with the air, for Yuuko had already stood up and looked outside the hut.

Inuyasha came back with everyone following behind. Sango in particular was shooting Miroku and Yuuko death glares that pierced like the bloodshot lasers. Kagome was walking next to her wearing an expression of disgust. Watanuki walked behind them wearing a similar expression. Inuyasha and Shippou on the other hand were wearing expressions of pure terror.

"Inuyasha explained to me about the price," Kagome said disgustedly. "Where do we get Aeris?"

"Aeris is located in a deserted castle up north. Watanuki will help you."

"WHY DO I HAVE TO GO?" Watanuki screamed, "I DON'T HAVE TO PAY ANYTHING. ISN'T THIS THEIR PRICE?"

"Watanuki," Yuuko said exasperatedly, "If they go alone, they won't be able to survive long enough to get Aeris. That's why I want you and Kudakitsune to come."

"Why can't _you_ go then?" Shippou asked Yuuko.

"If I came it wouldn't count as payment. I'll still be able to help you though."

"How?"

"Watanuki will wear these," Yuuko said holding up a pari of long cat ears that stuck out to the side, "Then I can still give you orders."

"WHY THOSE…?" Watanuki said falling on the floor. "CAN'T YOU GET LIKE A WALKIE-TALKIE OR SOMETHING?"

"I could…," Yuuko said, "But I like these better!"

"Besides, it'll fit your image as a scary monster!" Mokona chirped.

"DON'T. SAY. ANYTHING…," Watanuki screamed.

"You also must deliver this package to Kurogane. His item is ready. Turn right after you obtain Aeris. Then you should be able to go to the village in about thirty minutes."

"Yes m'am," Watanuki said, trying not to choke at the repulsive aura that was wrapped around the box. "What's in here?"

"Kurogane's wish," Yuuko answered, "I said it was powerful; I never said pure. Now you better get off." Everyone turned to go except for Sango, who shot Yuuko a look that clearly wished for a painful death.

"_It has been a while, hasn't it Eriol?"_ Yuuko thought to herself. With that, she opened up a bottle of sake and drank it. _"They need all the luck they can get." _

XxX------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------XxX

First of all I would like to say that I'm deeply sorry for breaking my updating promise. I've been such a bad procrastinator….especially last week. But enough of that, my life is not interesting. I want to credit night foliage for beta-reading this chapter first and foremost. This chapter would be no way near as good as it is now if it wasn't for night foliage. Before now, I did all the edits myself. Second of all, I'm changing my writing style as you may have noticed. I would like to hear some opinions on it so I can tell whether to stick with it or not. Lastly, I just want to make a comment on the title of this chapter. I normally have trouble remembering my titles because they're all in Japanese, but this one was so easy. If you notice both Yuuko and Watanuki's name are in the word Yuuwaku which is from **Yu**uko and **Wa**tan**uk**i. See, even the word temptation suggests for them to be together XD. Well I hope you liked this chapter, the next chapter will be released next week I promise. I finally have control over my procrastination habits so you don't have to stone me this time. Ciao!


	7. Namae no Nai Uta

Namae no Nai Uta

_Song with No Name_

On the night of the full moon, a red-haired man was crouching down in the bushes. He looked up at the moon, overflowing with boredom; he had already gone off much farther than his targets. However he still kept his ears open for any signs of movement.

His orders were simple. "Once the targets have obtained Aeris, exterminate them. Give Aeris to me. I'll tell you how exterminate the Witch then," Fei Wong Reed had ordered him. As much as he hated that bastard and his goddamned orders he knew it would be worth in the end.

XxX----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------XxX

"These ears make me look like a freak," Watanuki moaned. They had just encountered three little owl demons that had made snide accounts at him

"Why don't just shut up kid," Inuyasha growled feeling insulted.

"But those ears would make anyone look stupid!" Watanuki complained. Inuyasha went over to him and punched him on the head.

"You're the one who looks like a freak you little bastard!" Inuyasha shouted. Watanuki stared at him and then he remembered that Inuyasha had dog ears on top of his head. He must have insulted him by complaining about the ears.

"Osuwarii," Kagome ordered irately, "Don't punch him on the head Inuyasha. Watanuki-kun didn't mean to insult you."

"YES HE DID," Inuyasha screamed childishly.

"I swear I didn't," Watanuki said in panic, "I'm sorry. It's just that you look pretty normal so I didn't notice."

"Yeah Inuyasha," Shippou said, "Stop acting like a baby."

"WHAT DID YOU SAY," Inuyasha screamed while running towards a cowering Shippou.

"Osuwarii," ordered Yuuko through Watanuki's removable ears. Everyone jumped, except for Inuyasha who was once again face flat on the ground.

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR BITCH!" Inuyasha screamed to the ears while Watanuki wondered how much hearing aids cost.

"You've lost sight of your path," Yuuko scolded, "You're wasting your own energy and time to beat up your own ally.

"Keh," Inuayasha said irratibly. Kagome glared at Watanuki's removable ears.

"_That Dimension Witch just doesn't know when to mind her own business," _Kagome thought in rage, _"First she uses Osuwarii to break my connection with Inuyasha. Then she abuses him while flirting with him at the same time. Then she goes off and shamelessly lowers herself for a "price". She's just an eccentric **whore**. What the hell is her problem?" _

"Just because you utter something derogatory about someone is doesn't improve you in any way," Yuuko said coolly from the earphones. Kagome wondered if she said that out loud. Apparently she hadn't, judging from the way everyone looked at each other in confusion. Still, she had to be careful.

"You've arrived," Yuuko said a minute later. Her words were met with an eerie silence. Everyone was gazing up at what looked like a creepy, abandoned castle.

"Be careful," she warned, "Someone has made already made welcoming arrangements." Watanuki could hear his heart hammering fast. Why did he have to come? He was only going to be dragged on as a liability. He had forgotten the spear and was only carrying Kurogane's box. Sighing, he ran inside. Everyone had left him and went inside.

XxX----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------XxX

Watanuki found himself in the strangest room he had ever seen. It reminded him of a bigger version of Yuuko's storeroom. There were a mass of large strange objects lying in the middle of the room. There were no doorways at the end of the room, though it was possible that he just couldn't see them since the room was dim. Watanuki looked behind him and then he realized that the door was gone.

There was a powerful aura emanating from up above. Watanuki looked up. There was a drop of rain falling from the ceiling. Watanuki stepped out of the way as the wooden floor creaked. Then he noticed that the raindrop was a pink. The pink raindrop fell down like a single tear and disintegrated a hole into the ground. A moment later he felt a couple of raindrops on his shoulder along with searing pain.

"I can't find a way out," Kagome gasped from the middle of the room.

"Well we'll just have to force our way out," Inuyasha said unconcernedly. "KONGOUSOUHA!" Diamond shards flew at the mass and vanished out of sight. Everyone stared foolishly at the mass for a minute.

"I guess we just have to force our way out," Miroku stated as a matter of factly. Everyone nodded except for Sango who gave him a blazing glare. Everyone scattered off in different directions towards the mass; the rain was pouring steadily and the pain was unbearable.

Watanuki ran forward and found himself in front of an enormous headless rubber duck. "How's everything going?" Yuuko asked from the earphones.

"Bad," Watanuki said quietly, "There's some type of acid rain that's falling over everyone."

"Are you sure it's acid rain?" Watanuki thought about it for a minute.

"Well when it falls over us it really hurts," he said as he touched the headless rubber duck.

"If it is truly acid rain then it should disintegrate your skin," Yuuko said as Watanuki was struck by a Kongousouha diamond in the stomach. After a few seconds of blearing pain and a decent amount of blood loss, Watanuki looked at his right arm and saw that his skin wasn't disintegrating. There was only a wound with blood dripping along like a tear. He looked around and saw that no one's skin was disintegrating yet; instead they were grunting in pain as they were being struck by the rebounding Kongousouha spears.

"No one's disintegrating," Watanuki said slowly, "I have a wound that's bleeding though…"

"In order for the rain to stop, you need to figure out what is going on and why it's happening."

Watanuki thought it for a minute. None of these drops were fatal. If they weren't fatal, then were they a test or something? If it was a test, then this would all make sense.

"Then this is a test…?" Watanuki asked puzzled.

"Exactly," Yuuko said, "A test always has an answer thus there is a way to stop this. You should be able to figure it out. The clues are always hidden in the test."

Watanuki scanned the room once again. In the mass, there was a shattered white mug, an enormous sock with a hole, a gigantic fork with middle spoke missing, and a dead tree with a fallen branch hanging attached by string. A drop of rain hit the floorboard again. It somehow reminded him of a sakura flower. Then the light bulb flashed. These were sakura drops. Watanuki ran quickly towards the tree.

The dead tree was definitely a sakura blossom tree that had withered away over time. Watanuki picked up the fallen branch. It had a dark, sharp tip that made it look like a pen. Apparently he was supposed to write what the name for the rain. Well that was easy. He wrote the kanji for "sakura drops".

The words were erased before he blinked. Watanuki panicked. He didn't have time for this. It was obvious that his comrades were about to fall soon. He quickly scribbled in hiragana and then katakana. They were evanescent in a breath of a second.

"DAMNIT, DAMNIT, DAMNIT, DAMNIT, DAMNIT," Watanuki cursed loudly at the tree, "THIS CAN'T BE HAPPENING. I CAN'T LET EVERYONE DIE!" Inuyasha was being pierced by the fork, Kagome and Sango were being cut by the mug shards, and Shippou was being strangled to death by the hole in the sock in a way that was too gruesome to be even remotely humorous. He was so close to the answer. In desperation, he wrote "sakura drops" in the style that he saw in a popular song title with the "sakura" part in kanji and the "drops" part in English. This time, only the "sakura" part was erased.

Why didn't he think about it before? All these objects were western. The magic aura that surrounded this aura was a blend of Eastern and Western cultures, just like Yuuko's magic. The name of the butterfly that they were supposed to obtain was in Latin. The title would have obviously been in English. Watanuki eagerly prepared to write "sakura" in English.

"Wait a minute," Yuuko interrupted, "You've almost got it. However you're missing something important."

Watanuki looked at the sakura blossom tree pondering. What was missing? He didn't need a price for this hopefully. That was the _opposite_ thing he wanted.

"Wait a minute," Watanuki muttered. Everything had opposites. Yuuko's magical staff had symbols of the sun and the moon. The Mokonas were black and white. There was matter and antimatter in the universe. "This must be it," Watanuki said to himself, "The word "sakura" has to be written the opposite way of "drops. What did the teacher say in my last English lesson?"

XxX----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------XxX

"There are capital letters and lower case letters," the teacher said to the class, "They are opposites. Usually capital letters are used only at the beginning of a sentence for the first letter, but sometimes westerners will capitalize a whole word to put an emphasis on it."

XxX----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------XxX

Watanuki quickly wrote the word "SAKURA" in English. The words "SAKURA drops" flashed everyone as the SAKURA drops stopped pouring. The objects moved to the side revealing a door with an emblem of a sakura flower with the words "SAKURA drops" circling around it. A doorknob that was shaped into the shape of a sakura flower was at the right side.

"What happened?" Inuyasha asked blankly.

"I just wrote SAKURA drops onto that tree…." Watanuki said. Everyone stared at him incredulously.

"I knew you could do it Watanuki," Yuuko whispered from the earphones, "This is why I had you accompany everyone. Do you see it now? Without you, nobody would have been able to figure out how to turn off the SAKURA drops and survive." Watanuki didn't say anything and opened the door. Kagome noticed that Watanuki's face had turned a little red.

XxX----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------XxX

The next room that they entered was also spacious. The walls were painted to mirror the night sky. The stars glittered like tiny diamonds in the light. In the middle of the room, two strange figures looked at them without surprise.

"Congratulations," one of the figures said. She was a tall woman with ruby red hair and enormous black butterfly wings on her back. "You have done well."

"Master Eriol planned this all along," said a black outlandish creature. It looked a tall, skinny wolf with long pointy ears. It had a butterfly pin, and enormous butterfly wings on its back too.

"Who and what the hell are you?" Inuyasha asked.

"I'm Ruby Moon and this is Spinel Sun," Ruby Moon said happily, "We're guardians that have been ordered to stop you." She lunged towards them and released a ball of energy along with Spinel Sun. It missed Watanuki by inches. The attack ended up rebounding off the wall and hitting Inuyasha.

Inuyasha growled as he struggled to get back up. This wasn't going to be an easy match.

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**Notice: I will not update this fic until I get _30_ reviews. **I'm sorry about this but I need to know the opinion of my readers so I can improve this fic. The amount of reviews I've been getting have not been sufficient. I really did not want to resort to this but…. Anyways, it's not a lot of reviews. I'm simply asking for fifteen more reviews. The only regulations is that there are is that 1. The review must be helpful (no SPAM or just plain bashing for no reason) and 2. The same people cannot review over and over. I don't expect fifteen reviews that say "OMG I LOVE THIS STORY LIKE IT ROX". I would actually be happier if someone criticized the story like for example "Ruby Moon seems OOC compared to Cardcaptor Sakura." That is what helps an author. I'm not trying to be selfish but as someone (I forgot who, sorry) stated before "Reviews are the main feed for an author. It's what keeps an author going." So I'll just leave it as that. Now, I want to thank Night Foliage for beta reading this again and I would also like to state that my inspiration for this chapter is from the song SAKURA drops by Utada Hikaru. The chapter title is used from the song Namae no Nai Uta by BoA. Thank you for reading this fic and please review even if you're lazy or else this fic won't continue.


	8. Hikari

Hikari

_Light_

A short man with red hair stepped into the room that his targets had just left. He stared at the downpour of SAKURA drops. He remembered Fei Wong Reed had told him that they were lethal. _It's hard to imagine that something so beautiful and mystical is so deadly. _He smiled as he clutched his umbrella that protected him from the downpour. In a way the SAKURA drops were just like her.

The man stared at the dead sakura tree recalling the moments he had spent with her. He remembered the bright spring days they had spent together chatting as the soft pink petals gently showered upon them. He focused all his thoughts on her. She was the reason why he put up with Fei Wong Reed and his dirty work. She was his most precious person.

XxX----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------XxX

In the room next door, Ruby Moon looked around happily as Inuyasha struggled to get up. It hadn't fought a battle since Sakura transformed the last two Clow Cards into Star Cards. It's hard to believe three years had passed since then. Now there wasn't much to do except to watch the drama between Master Eriol and Kaho.

Spinel Sun stared at his opponents in absolute boredom. It had expected to put up with a long, grueling fight. The only battle it was having trouble with was the temptation to run off and binge on all the food it could find.

"Well it looks like you can still stand," Ruby Moon said haughtily, "It looks like we have been going too easy on you. It likes we're going to have to step up."

"Step up?" Spinel Sun said with great incredulity.

"It sounded nice when I heard it," Ruby Moon said defensively.

"Suit yourself. I found our last battle much more difficult though. This battle is about as complex as a duel with the headless rubber duck back there," Spinel Sun said.

"OH YEAH," Inuyasha screamed angrily aiming for a corner, "KAZE NO KISU!!!"

"_Works every time," _Spinel Sun thought to itself.

The blazing yellow attack hit the front corner and rebounded off the wall towards the two guardians. However, they sensed this and dodged out of the way just in time.

As everyone else on the ground tried get out of the perilous path of Kaze no Kisu, Ruby Moon and Spinel Sun flew out at their opponents both releasing red attack beams of light. Ruby Moon cornered Inuyasha, Kagome, and Shippou at the left corner. Spinel Sun cornered Watanuki, Miroku, Sango, and Kirara at the right corner.

Ruby Moon and Spinel Sun did not miss. The red blasts came and went leaving behind presents of unbearable thrashing pain for all the hapless recipients. Kaze no Kisu came back streaking a path to the right corner hitting Kirara.

"KIRARA!" Sango screamed. It was no use. A split second later the great cat demon transformed into its smaller form and fell from exhaustion. It was too late. Sango ran towards Kirara, ignoring her own pain. She picked up Kirara gently as she frantically felt for heartbeat while the others gazed empathically at Kirara. She sighed in relief as she felt the pulse and set Kirara down.

One Down

Six to Go

XxX----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------XxX

The assassin silently watched the scene from a gap in the door. He studied the attacks and movements of each of his targets. At this rate his targets will be killed before he even got the chance to meet them. He hoped they would use their senses and look up to the sky.

XxX----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------XxX

Spinel Sun showed no signs of slowing down. It may have acted bored but it certainly was giving it's all. It released attacks one after another that either hit its opponents directly or bounced off the walls and hit its opponents.

"Sango watch out!" Miroku called out as one of the beams came towards her. She managed to move out of the way in time. She did not thank the monk and turned her back on him.

"_He just plays around not considering my feelings," _Sango thought furiously to herself. _"What am I to him? Am I a plaything he occupies his time with until he finds something better?" _

Miroku sighed looking at his fiancé. _"I guess I shouldn't have done that," _he thought, _"I shouldn't get her hopes up though. I'm probably going to die anyways after fighting Naraku. I don't want her to get hurt."_

"_This is chaos," _Watanuki thought to himself, "_That damn monk and Sango aren't talking at all. How the hell are we going to get out of here alive if we can't cooperate together?"_

"Watanuki," Yuuko called softly from his earphones, "Are you okay?"

Watanuki stared blankly as he dodged another one of Spinel Sun's attack. Yuuko was actually asking him if he was okay with a tone of concern._ Is she actually worried about me?_

"Of course I am," Yuuko said in response to his thoughts, "The journey has barely begun and I need your help. How severe are your injuries?"

"They're not too bad," Watanuki lied as he did not want to worry her.

Yuuko sighed. "Don't act reckless. How are you faring against Ruby Moon and Spinel Sun?"

"Really, really, really, really, really, bad," Watanuki said concernedly, "Their attacks keep off bouncing off the walls and striking us back."

"Then you need to figure out how to stop the attacks from striking you back."

"How?"

"You're going about defeating them the wrong way. This situation is similar to the situation in the last room. Focus on the situation and make observations. With that you should be able to figure out the rest. Work with the rest of the group. Like it or not you now depend on them," Yuuko ordered and then she paused, "I'm sure you can do it Watanuki."

"Okay."

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Ruby Moon was not giving Inuyasha, Kagome, and Shippou an easy fight either. Her attacks were also bouncing of the walls towards them. Inuyasha often had to protect Kagome and Shippou from the attacks and did not find enough time to wield Tessaiga.

"I wish I could do something," Shippou moaned to Kagome. He was tired of being the weak while the others would fight honorably in battle.

"I know what you mean," Kagome said, "I feel like such a liability. I can't even shoot my arrow because of those walls and…"

"KAGOME!" Inuyasha screamed as he ran over to Kagome and Shippou and carried them away from the attack ahead of time.

"Inuyasha you didn't have to do that," Kagome said softly.

"I just don't want you to get hurt," Inuyasha said quickly.

"That doesn't mean you can't prevent harm," Ruby Moon said in a deadly tone. She drew her hand back and unleashed some type of small magical attacks blazing in red.

Inuyasha wielded Tessaiga with much difficulty. "KONGOUSOUHA!!!!" he screamed. The piercing diamonds flew out at Ruby Moon's attacks. Inuyasha prayed they would deflect the attacks at least.

Every Kongousouha diamond ended up missing Ruby Moon's attacks. The lethal Kongousouha diamonds and the glowing red attacks filled up air in the room hunting together for their next target.

A high pitched scream of anguish echoed across the room. Inuyasha looked around horrified. Some of the diamonds had rebounded off the walls and pierced Shippou's side. Shippou, who had already been losing an enormous amount of blood, fainted on the spot.

Two down

Five left

"Shippou-chan," Kagome said softly. She picked him up and she held him in one arm. She wrapped her other arm around her waist in pain where some diamonds had struck her. She looked up at Inuyasha praying he would not notice. As she looked up, she knew it was lost prayer.

Inuyasha stood there numbly gazing out at the scene. He was about to kill those two butterfly creatures yet he knew it was **his fault**. He was the one that **critically injured **his own companions. **_I'm the one at blame here. _**He wished he could make it up. Why was it that he couldn't protect the ones he cared for when they needed it most? If there was anything he could do…anything, anything…..

"INUYASHA WATCH OUT!"

Inuyasha looked up and saw that all the Kongousouha diamonds and Ruby Moon's attacks were headed towards him. He stood frozen to the spot. _"I deserve this for letting Shippou down…for letting Kagome down…"_

All of a sudden, he felt someone push him away. It was that boy with the witch, Watanuki or whatever his name was. The attacks missed both of them and flew through the door.

"Consider yourselves lucky," Ruby Moon said pompously, "That was to remove intruders. Luck will only take you so far."

XxX----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------XxX

The spears barely missed the assassin. If it wasn't for his own extraordinary reflexes, he would have been dead by now.

"_There is no use for me to be here. I'll just go off and wait for them. They'll be alright. I can just feel it."_

He turned feeling slightly guilty at the task that he was about to face. He knew had to do it though. There was no other choice he had to protect her at all costs even if it meant taking someone else's life.

XxX----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------XxX

"Why the hell did you save me?" Inuyasha asked Watanuki quietly.

"You were about to be killed!" Watanuki said quickly.

"What the hell were you doing?" Miroku asked Inuyasha angrily as he came running over. Kagome and Sango ran up behind him.

"Kagome are you okay?" Inuyasha asked ignoring Miroku.

"I'm fine. What happened back there?"

"Well I…," Inuyasha stuttered, "I…felt kind of bad that I…"

"That doesn't matter! I don't care about that! I don't blame you at all; it wasn't your fault," Kagome said hurriedly.

"But…"

"Look if we're ever going to get out of here alive you can't just stand there completely fazed out. **We need you**." Inuyasha scanned his companions' faces slowly and nodded.

"_I promise I'll get those butterfly people if it's the last thing I do," _Inuyasha swore to himself.

"We're going about this the wrong way," Watanuki said suddenly.

"How do you know?" Sango asked.

"Well that's what Yuuko-san said," Watanuki said dismissively. Sango frowned. As much as she hated that sluttish egotistical bitch, she had a habit of being right.

"What else did she say?" Miroku asked.

"She said that we need to observe our surroundings and figure out how to get rid tof those damn walls that keep on attacking us," Watanuki said thinking hard.

"Let's see," Kagome said as she thought out loud "We're stuck in a room with walls that repel off all our attacks."

"The walls look like the night sky," Inuyasha remarked.

"Maybe we need something like the sun or daylight to get rid of the walls or something?" Kagome suggested.

Watanuki looked up at the ceiling and saw the moon. Then a wave of intuition came to him. The moon and sun are opposites. The light and dark are opposites.

"That's it," Watanuki said, "We just need to get some type of light to go to the ceiling and then the walls should disappear or something."

"Kagome-sama," Miroku said, "Maybe you should release your purifying arrow. I noticed it usually emits a white light after. It might be enough."

"Okay I'll try."

"Are you done yet? I'm sleepy listening to your dulcet tones," Spinel Sun said yawning.

"Hell yeah we are," Inuyasha said confidently. Ruby Moon and Spinel Sun stared at each other.

Kagome aimed her arrow at the moon up on the ceiling. _I have to make it. Everyone's counting on me. _Suddenly, she sensed an attack coming towards her.

Inuyasha managed to spot the attack and blocked it out of harm's way with Tessaiga. Kagome smiled at him. Inuyasha would always be by her side no matter what.

With this in her mind she confidently aimed and shot the arrow. It flew up and hit the moon dead center. Watanuki was instantly reminded of Doumeki and how good he was at archery just like Kagome.

The room exploded with white light. It was impossible to see anything. Everybody shielded their eyes.

Slowly the white light cleared. The walls became the color of the clear blue sky. The sun was shining its spotlight on the victors of the battle. The Ruby Moon and Spinel Sun were airily floating each trapped in a ball of some type of magical yellow light.

"Congratulations, you have passed the second test," Ruby Moon said.

"Watanuki shall enter the third test alone," said Spinel Sun.

Watanuki looked at his companions horrified. _"Why me," _he thought to himself. _"What if I fail and let everyone down?"_ He looked up at and saw that everyone was smiling at him. It was as if they could read his thoughts.

"You can do it Watanuki-kun," Kagome said encouragingly.

"You'll figure it out," Miroku said calmly.

"You'll be alright," Sango said quietly. Everyone looked at Inuyasha.

"You better get this damned Aeris butterfly or I'll kill you," Inuyasha said roughly.

Watanuki smiled. He knew that somehow he would be alright.

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It's one o' clock in the morning here and I have officially transformed into a living zombie. Luckily for you guys, I'm on a schedule (I want this arc done) so I won't have some stupid reviews thing which you guys cheated on anyways. I said the same person couldn't review over and over and some of you ignored it. Oh well what can I say…Thanks to all the reviewers. Some of those reviews were really helpful. I was actually going to ask for fifty reviews but that seems like way too much. Well I hope you review anyways. This story can only improve with reviews.

The English italicized below the title is the English translation. Or what that stupid online translator says anyways. So now you know…

So just who is this assassin (and his girlfriend)? Well I'm not going to tell you…The only thing I'll say is that they are NOT original characters (I am sadly not his girlfriend). Have fun guessing….

About the Doumeki thing, he really reminds me of Kagome. Kagome and Doumeki are archers. They both have spiritual powers. Doumeki is a descendant of Clow Reed. Kagome is Kikyou's reincarnation. So that's why I stuck that comment in. I'm not trying to satisfy Donuts cravings. Donuts fans can interpret this as love if they want. It's up to you.

Oh wow this is long…So I hope you guys enjoyed this fic and I PROMISE THIS WILL BE UPDATED NEXT WEEK! **SPECIAL THANKS TO NIGHT FOLIAGE FOR IMMEASURABLE HELP! WITHOUT HER THIS CHAPTER WOULD SUCK. SERIOUSLY MY BRAIN IS DEAD AND WITH IT MY GRAMMAR. ESPECIALLY SINCE SHE STAYED UP UNTIL 1:30 TO HELP EDIT THIS**. Thanks to all! Bai!


	9. Hotaru

Hotaru

_Firefly_

The last room was surprisingly exquisite. The walls were draped with lavish yellow silk. Watanuki noticed that the walls had emblems of the moon and the sun. It gave off a mysterious and powerful aura. It was different from the stereotypical luxurious room.

"Congratulations," a voice said. A boy around Watanuki's age stepped out. The boy had dark blue hair and glasses. He wore exotic robes of midnight blue embellished with intricate patterns.

"I am Hiiragizawa Eriol. I am the reincarnation of Clow Reed." Watanuki stared at Eriol slightly in shock. Didn't Yuuko mention Clow Reed once?

"Clow Reed…he corresponded with Yuuko-san at one time, didn't he?"

"Indeed," Eriol said smiling. "It is unfortunate that Yuuko-san is unable to help you at the moment." Watanuki didn't hear a sound from his earphones. The butterfly in his stomach spread its wings. He was completely alone.

"Are you ready to complete the final task?"

"What do I have to do?" Watanuki asked nervously. A boy that looked just like Eriol stepped inside the room and stood to the right of the first Eriol.

"Which of us is the real Hiiragizawa Eriol?" the second Eriol said. Watanuki just stared at him blankly.

"But Hiiragizawa-san," Watanuki stammered, "I just met you…"

"Well you just have to guess then," the other Eriol said, "There's a 50 chance."

"I'm screwed," Watanuki muttered.

XxX--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------XxX

In a grassy field not far from the campsite, fireflies illuminated the night sky with soft yellow glows that resembled lanterns in a traditional Japanese festival. Mokona, who had drunk a lot of sake, was stumbling as it tried to catch a firefly. Yuuko stood at the edge of the scene silently watching Mokona as she remembered one of her most recent customers.

It had happened almost a month ago. There had been a spiteful spirit lingering around Tokyo. It had been waiting to get its long deserved revenge and it was finally going to obtain with the help of the Dimension Witch.

"Please help me!" a young woman with short hair cried. Her clothes were in disarray as she sprinted towards the Dimension Witch.

"I helped you before," the Dimension Witch repeated calmly, "I granted your wish. I destroyed the photo that you feared of."

"It was an accident! Everything that happened was a complete accident!" the short-haired woman screamed.

"Keep on telling yourself that. The mind believes what it wants to," the Dimension Witch said flatly. "What is your purpose in coming here?"

"It has happened," the short-haired woman stammered, "I was caught on tape for a news broadcast. Now…now…."

"Everyone will see the photo."

"NO," the short woman screamed hysterically, "I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING. IT WAS AN ACCIDENT. IT WAS SUPPOSED TO END UP LIKE THIS…IT WAS..."

"Do you have a wish?"

"Is there any way to bring a person back to life?"

"No," the Dimension Witch said firmly, "That is impossible."

"Then I wish…I wish…I WISH I COULD GET AWAY FROM HERE! I'LL GIVE YOU ANYTHING TO TAKE ME AWAY FROM ALL THIS!" The woman panted as the Dimension Witch started at her emotionlessly.

"You shouldn't say something like that."

"I MEAN IT!" the short-haired woman screamed. There was a silent pause. Then….

"Your wish has been granted," the Dimension Witch said in that same emotionless tone.

"Really?" the short-haired woman asked choking back tears. "What is my price then?"

"A meeting with the victim of your murder."

The short-haired woman looked blankly at the Dimension Witch screaming louder than ever. She sprinted out of the shop with the Dimension Witch slowly watching. The woman ran out to the gate when she saw the ghost of her victim.

Her victim had been a beautiful woman when she was alive. Now she bore a similar resemblance to Sadako. Her hair was draped over her face like a brownish-red veil that covered her face, except for her eyes. Her eyes looked as if they were being pulled apart from the top and bottom of her eyelids. The short-haired woman screamed as she saw the overlarge red eyes gleaming towards her.

The ghost did not say a word as she lunged towards her murderer and choked her to death. Then she put a hand inside her murderer's body and took out the heart. She hesitantly went over towards the Dimension Witch and held out the heart outstretched in her hands.

"This is the price of taking a life," the Dimension Witch said emotionlessly, "Your spirit will be eternally punished while your murder's spirit will reside in this heart. Are you still eager to go through with it?"

The ghost nodded and vanished towards an eternal hell. The Dimension Witch sealed the murder's spirit within the heart. Then she put a box over the heart and put it away in the storeroom. These were the times that she hated her job.

Yuuko's mind returned to the present as she saw two fireflies fly towards her. She caught them in her hands as she watched them slowly die. She let them fall in a pile of dead fireflies.

"The life of a human is short," Yuuko said to herself. She looked away trying not to think of Watanuki. It was painful to think that he would have to leave her side one day.

XxX--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------XxX

The last room was completely silent as Watanuki tried to think. _Both of them look exactly the same! How the hell am I supposed to figure out which one of them is real?_

Watanuki closed his eyes and tried to think. _Maybe they would have different auras. _He tried to focus on the auras of both Eriols. They were exactly the same. Watanuki screamed in frustration.

Watanuki wanted to talk to Yuuko right now. She would have avertedly helped him as she usually did. She had always made sure that he was safe. Now Watanuki felt like a young child left alone in the darkness for the first time, trying desperately to find an exit.

_An exit…_Watanuki looked around the room. The only entrance and exit was the door behind him. How had the second Eriol entered?

The room was empty except for Watanuki and the two Eriols. There was no way the second Eriol could have hid behind anything. The only way he could have entered the room from the other side was if he was created while Watanuki was in conversation with the first Eriol. Then it would have seemed like that the clone just entered.

"You're the real Hiiragizawa Eriol," Watanuki said nervously pointing to the Eriol on the left.

"Correct," Eriol said. The other Eriol seemingly vanished into thin air. Eriol reached into his robe and pulled out a glass box containing a mystical blue-gold butterfly.

"You picked a fine helper Yuuko-sama," Eriol said while handing what was presumably Aeris into Watanuki's free hand.

"Indeed Eriol-kun," Yuuko said from the earphones, "It is lucky for me that our meeting was inevitable. As with yours."

"As hitsuzen picked the new master of the Clow Cards."

"How's Sakura-chan doing?" Yuuko asked conversationally. Watanuki shot his eyes up remembering the princess. They must be talking about a different Sakura.

"She's doing very well," Eriol said eyeing Watanuki's startled look, "All the Clow Cards have been transformed into Sakura cards with my help. She's fine. Li Syaoran has moved back to Tomeda so she's fine."

"That's great to hear," Yuuko said softly.

"This conversation has been pleasurable but it must end," Eriol said.

"Indeed Watanuki. You must go for the village quickly," Yuuko ordered as everyone entered the room looking very puzzled.

"What happened?" Watanuki asked. Nobody answered.

XxX--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------XxX

"Are you sure it's around here kid?" Inuyasha snapped.

"I believe so…" Watanuki said weakly.

"Damn. This better not take a long time," Inuyasha muttered. He clutched his stomach for a second. He would have given anything to go back and rest. Well almost anything. He wouldn't give away Kagome or Tessaiga no matter what happened.

"Do your wounds hurt Inuyasha?" Kagome asked gently.

"No way in hell," Inuyasha lied trying not to wince, "What about you?"

"I can handle it," Kagome said smiling. Then Inuyasha noticed something.

"I smell blood," Inuyasha said wide eyed, "From over there. There's lots of it. It's the blood of humans." Everyone ran up towards the village and was met with blood-drenched ruins.

There had been a massacre by the looks of it. Many human villagers lay in the pathway as if they were scattered pebbles tossed into the street. Watanuki, who had been feeling sick ever since he came near the village, tried not to throw up as he saw a decapitated head of a villager.

"Who would do this?" Watanuki asked while coughing.

"Kurogane…it's no use," a soft voice said from a little alleyway. Everyone ran up to see what was going on.

Kurogane was holding his wife and son in his arms. Somehow Kurogane had managed to emerge from the massacre unscathed. His wife and son weren't so lucky. His son, who couldn't have been any more than seven or eight, was already dead from a chest wound. His wife, who looked frail from the start, looked ready to die any second.

"Tomoyo," Kurogane said with a mix of rage and pain, "I will find who did this and kill him."

"Kurogane," Tomoyo said softly, "Enough people have died already. I just want you to be happy after I die. I will always be happy wherever I am as long as you're happy…even if you love someone else. I'm just happy we spent so many years together. Sayonara." With that her head drooped as her eyes closed. She was gone.

Kurogane brought Tomoyo's body closer towards his and looked down. _How could I let this happen? I was just out for a minute and now Tomoyo and Kentaro are gone…Gone forever…_Kurogane slowly looked up and felt a pang of surprise.

It was that blue-eyed kid that accompanied that creepy witch. This time he was accompanied by a bunch of strange people. It amazed Kurogane to see that the kid seemed to be crying. These people must have watched what had been happening.

"Kurogane-sama…I have the item you wished for," Watanuki said trying not to let his quiver.

"Have you seen the bastard that killed everyone, kid?"

"You mean only one person was able to do all this?" Watanuki said in horror.

"Yeah that's what Tomoyo said." Kurogane's voice shook as he mentioned her name. "Where is that bastard? I'm going to kill him."

"This one is right here." Everyone turned. A short, skinny, red-haired swordsman stepped out and faced everyone. He took out his sword to reveal the fresh blood and then he put the sword back into his sheath.

"Who are you?" Inuyasha asked vulgarly.

"This one is known to many as Kenshin," the man said calmly.

"Why did you kill everyone?" Kurogane asked bitterly.

"It was my orders," Kenshin said coldly.

"Who's your boss?"

"A man named Fei Wong Reed."

"What are you trying to accomplish?" Kurogane spat.

"This one has been ordered to slay the people in front of you. The village was massacred by this one as bait to lure the targets out." No one said a word. Kenshin picked up a sword from the ground and tossed it to Kurogane. He walked past his targets and faced Kurogane.

"This one does have sympathy for the situation you have been put in. That's what the sword is for. You now have a choice. You decide your own path." Kurogane looked up at Kenshin blankly. Then he picked up the sword.

"I will kill you."

"Unfortunately, that will not be the case."

"We'll see about that you bastard!" Kurogane yelled as he lunged quickly at Kenshin. It seemed as if Kurogane was running straight towards Kenshin. Stupid move. Then as Kenshin stepped to the left Kurogane turned around and tried to slice Kenshin's back. Kenshin was able to dodge but not by much.

"_Fei Wong Reed said Kurogane had a sword yet he is swift and he has a good head for strategy. It is such a shame for this one to stop him. He would have made a fine swordsman," _Kenshin thought to himself.

Kenshin unsheathed his sword as Kurogane came forward. To Kurogane's untrained eye, the sword looked a silver blur. Kurogane felt something hard stab at him. A second later he felt something else just as hard stab him, crushing his elbow and several of his ligaments. He looked up to see Kenshin standing above him with both his sword and sheath held up above him. He had lost the shortest battle in history.

"Hiten Mitsurugi-Ryu Battojutsu Soryusen," Kenshin muttered. Kurogane stared at Kenshin's sword and noticed something.

"Your sword is backwards!" The spectators in the back looked in astonishment. He was right.

"I switched the blade just before I attacked you. Your life is spared. Your injuries will be permanent and you will not be able to kill this one or the ones that this one cherishes."

"WHY DIDN'T YOU JUST KILL ME YOU FUCKING MONSTER?" Kurogane screamed. "YOU JUST SLAUGHTERED A WHOLE VILLAGE AND MY WIFE AND CHILD. WHY DON'T YOU JUST KILL ME NOW?"

"Killing you would have been pointless. The targets have been lured out. There has been more than enough blood shed. This one does not carry a sword merely to flaunt it as a symbol of undeserved power."

"Then why are you working as an assassin dammit?" Kurogane asked, shaking in rage. For the first time, Kenshin let his calm demeanor slip away.

"Fei Wong Reed…he has ordered me to become an assassin under the account..."

"To save your fiancé right?" Yuuko said from the headphones. Everyone jumped. Both Kenshin and Kurogane stared at Watanuki in disbelief. A second later, they realized the voice was coming from his odd looking ears.

"Watanuki's odd looking ears are not his own as they are objects that enable communication," Yuuko said as to answer the confused looks, "Fei Wong Reed has taken your fiancé in captivity and threatens to kill her if you don't follow his orders."

"How did you know that?" Kenshin asked in astonishment.

"That is not important. What is important is your next move. Will you follow orders and commit more murders?" Kenshin looked around. He looked at the bodies of the villagers scattered around. He looked at Kurogane who had the look of someone who had lost all hope. He looked at his targets. No. They weren't targets. They were people. People that treasured their lives. People that had places to go, missions to accomplish. He thought of his beloved. Maybe there was a way he could save her…without killing her. Maybe he could sneak off and slay Fei Wong Reed with the help of this mysterious woman. He had a feeling that she would help. Kenshin with drew his sword as he looked down. The next thing he saw was a sword piercing through the middle of his chest.

Kenshin could feel the pain stabbing at him. This pain hurt more than any other pain he had experienced. He was going to die. Kenshin looked behind him to see Fei Wong Reed's hand clutching the sword that was stabbed through him. Everyone else was splattered with blood that came from the mysterious portal that the hand was from. The hand pulled the sword out of Kenshin's body. Kenshin felt himself fall to the ground as the hand disappeared.

"It looks as if the weight of the lives taken is dragging this one to hell," Kenshin said calmly but weakly.

"But you're not a bad person!" Watanuki and Kagome said at the same time. They looked at each other as everyone stared at them. Kenshin looked up and smiled. He reached into his sleeve and held out some type of golden key.

"This is the key of heart. It will help you defeat Naraku and Fei Wong Reed. Find the heart that contains the lock for the key," Kenshin said weakly.

Inuyasha came forward and slowly took the key from Kenshin.

"Excuse me," Kenshin said, "This one is wondering if it is possible to take out your sword."

"What for?" Inuyasha asked taking out his sword and holding it by his side.

"Never mind," Kenshin said, "It looks as if death has called this one quicker." With that, Kenshin closed his eyes and passed on.

XxX--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------XxX

Hiding in the forest some distance away was Kenshin's fiancé. She had been set free thinking that she was to live happily with Kenshin forever. Instead she witnessed a cold, silver-haired demon stare down at his fallen opponent, Kenshin. She walked away vowing to kill the silver haired demon. She couldn't stand the fact that the silver haired demon was just standing there holding out his bloodstained sword after he presumably killed Kenshin. The blood on the demon showed it. She was glad she couldn't hear anything that was going on.

XxX--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------XxX

"Hey kid," Kurogane said emotionlessly, "Give me the box."

"Kurogane-sama…I think this box contains something that you wouldn't want." Kurogane ignored him and took the box with his left hand.

"You can still live if you have the desire," Yuuko said, "You can still choose to live."

"I choose to protect my wife and child_ren_," Kurogane said flatly as Yuuko sighed. He opened to box to find some type of body part. A second later he realized this was someone's heart. He saw a figure of a woman with short hair developing around him. This must have been the messenger of death. Then he saw nothing.

Watanuki watched in horror as Kurogane was getting consumed by the ghost. "STOP!" he screamed. Then the ghost turned its face to him. He knew that woman's face with short hair. Then he saw nothing.

XxX--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------XxX

Watanuki woke up several hours later. _What happened?_ He opened his eyes only to find Yuuko's face peering down at him. He realized that his head had been resting on Yuuko's lap for the whole time.

"Yuuko-san I'm sorry," Watanuki said blushing slightly. He tried to move his head but it felt as heavy as a stone.

"Don't bother Watanuki. You need to rest," Yuuko said softly.

"Where's everyone else? Are they okay?"

They are all recovering inside the huts. They should be fine." Watanuki looked down and noticed that his hands were empty. _Shit. Did I forget Aeris?_

"I took Aeris," Yuuko said. "How are your wounds?"

"They don't hurt anymore," Watanuki said relieved.

"They shouldn't. I put some medicine on them." Watanuki looked up.

"You did?"

"Yes. I put the rest in your backpack. It's payment for the help you have given. The rest of our comrades wouldn't have made it without you." They were silent for a minute as Watanuki remembered something and gathered his thoughts on the subject.

"Yuuko-san," he said softly, "Was that ghost inside the box that customer who pushed her friend off the cliff?"

"Yes."

"What happened to her? How did she become a ghost?"

"She was caught on T.V. and she wished to come back to the shop with a wish to leave her problems. I granted her wish." Watanuki remembered the woman and her horrible gleaming eyes…that stared out as she consumed Kurogane.

"Kurogane? What about him? Is he really dead?'

"Yes."

"What about the other Kurogane with Syaoran-kun?"

"He's fine at the moment."

"So will this Kurogane be fine wherever he is? What about Kenshin? Will he really go to hell?"

"Kurogane will be able to protect his family happily in the underworld. Kenshin will temporarily go to hell as atonement for his crimes. He will leave soon after." Watanuki was silent for a moment.

"Umm…Yuuko-san?"

"What is it?"

"Do you consider Kenshin to be a good guy? You know, like if he was on our side or not?"

"The judgment of good and evil is only a matter of opinion. If a person considers murder as something that is good, then it is good in the eyes of the person. Whether Kenshin was good or evil is completely up to you," Yuuko said matter of factly.

Watanuki paused for a moment. "I think he was. He only killed to protect the person he loved. He ended up sparing our lives and Kurogane's."

"Then that is your answer," Yuuko said smiling. Watanuki nodded.

"I have one more question. What'll happen to everyone's bodies?"

"The whole village has been burned down for that will get rid of the evil spirits that will contaminate the bodies. The monk over there chanted a couple of sutras and blessed them."

"That's good," Watanuki said softly. He lifted his head up and he saw a pile of dead fireflies. His head came back down as his eyes welled up with tears. Why was there so much death? Then he saw the butterfly flutter around him. He felt the tears and sadness go away.

"The butterfly of hope," Yuuko muttered.

"Aeris really has a positive aura," Watanuki said smiling.

"That's because it slowly restores hope. Hope is the ability to look positively at the next event of your life even if you or others have fallen," Yuuko said giving him a small smile. Watanuki fell back asleep a minute later with hope in his mind. Yuuko put her arms around his sleeping figure as his head rested on her lap. _Rest up because tomorrow will be a long day Watanuki._

XxX--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------XxX

OMG it's 12:45 A.M. I have major procrastination issues. I am truly sorry for the long delay. I will try my best to not let it happen again.

I do not own Kenshin. He belongs to Nobuhiro Watsuki. However this Kenshin is different from Watsuki-sensei's Himura Kenshin. This Kenshin does not have the scar, Kaoru, or the total "I must not kill anyone" attitude. These changes were made because he's obviously been living a different life. What do you think of him?

Sadako is that creepy girl in the Japanese version of the Ring. No more explanations there.

That short-haired woman is indeed the same woman who lied about pushing her friend off the cliff and had a photo taken revealing the scene. Her price was to never be electronically recorded (no photos, no getting caught on security camera film, and etc.) I hated her so much I gave her my proper ending.

I have a LiveJournal now. Check on my profile page if you want to view it.

I will not impose a review limit but I will be much more "inspired" to work faster if the reviews go up to 55.

Thank you for reading (and please don't murder me for the character deaths)!!!!! Sayonara!


	10. AOIRI TORI

AOIRI TORI

_BLUE BIRD_

"So they have gained the upper hand?" Naraku asked coldly. He was furious at Fei Wong Reed. _How could they have gained the key of heart? _

"It is not guaranteed that they will obtain the feather or find you for that matter," Fei Wong Reed answered calmly. He was lounging comfortably in his ominous and luxurious hideout. He reached for his wine glass and took a little sip without any concern of the situation.

"You are aware that with the key of heart they will be able to discover our location," Naraku said slowly. Fei Wong Reed let out a small laugh.

"I am aware of that. They shall not get far. Kenshin was only the beginning. All you have to do is attack them if they ever attack you."

"I'll attack them when the time is right," Naraku said haughtily. _Then I'll kill you._

XxX----------------------------------------------------------------XxX

Watanuki opened his eyes, only to se the sun high up in the sky. He put his hand up, shielding his eyes form the bright light. _Where's everybody?_

"Watanuki!" Yuuko called cheerfully. She came up to him holding a muffin in her hands. Watanuki noticed that she was wearing a halter dress that seemed to be originally a sarong. The dress was a deep purple embellished with golden carp that seemed to come to life in the sunlight. The dress fell to her ankles and clung tightly to her body embracing her curves.

"Oh…Yuuko-san," Watanuki said sheepishly remembering that he hadn't been able to make her breakfast.

"Mokona and I made these for breakfast," Yuuko said happily twirling once in an almost hyperactive way. Watanuki gave Yuuko a queer look. He wondered if this was the same Yuuko he knew. Maybe he just awoke in a completely different world where Yuuko was generous and Mokona was a gigantic singing turkey.

"Since you were asleep Mokona wanted to make breakfast and I helped it out," Yuuko said as if Watanuki had spoken his thoughts out loud.

"What's the price?" Watanuki asked as his eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"For lunch make a gourmet roasted chicken with fried rice for Mokona and me," Yuuko said slyly. "It will all taste so delicious! I can't wait to taste it!" Watanuki sighed.

"Alright," he said taking the muffin, "Wow, this muffin is really good."

"Of course," Mokona chirped up, "Mokona is a good chef!"

"What were you expecting it to taste like?" Yuuko asked narrowing her eyes.

"I wasn't sure what it would taste like," Watanuki responded instantly.

"That's fine then," Yuuko said in a happier tone, "Just remember the lunch as payment for breakfast."

"Yes m'am," Watanuki answered, "By the way, where is everyone else?"

"They should be coming over here right now. They just woke up too." Sure enough, they were all walking towards them. Watanuki noticed that Inuyasha, Kagome, and Sango all looked rather annoyed.

"So I guess we're going to be traveling together from now on," Kagome said after an awkward pause of silence. It seemed as if she had trouble disguising the bitterness in her tone of voice.

"It is hitsuzen that brought us together," Yuuko said matter of factly.

"What are we going to do next?" Miroku asked in a serious tone. Yuuko opened her hand unveiling the golden key that Kenshin had given them in his last moment. The key, which was now noticeable in the sunlight, was painted two glittering shades of gold.

"The next step is to find the lock or the heart of this key. Eventually, we will be able to corner Naraku and someone else into a place where neither can slither from," Yuuko pronounced ominously.

"Who is this other person?" Inuyasha asked curiously.

"This other person has a dream that must be destroyed," Yuuko said emotionlessly. Everyone looked at her eagerly but she did not elaborate any further.

"So how are we supposed to figure out where this heart thing is?" Inuyasha asked breaking the silence. Yuuko did not answer. Instead, she turned her head to the right where some human travelers were chatting.

"Did you hear about the Blue Bird?" one of the human travelers asked another.

"There are a lot of birds that are blue," the other traveler replied.

"No, this one is different," the first traveler said, "The Blue Bird has the ability to find anything in the world even if it seems lost forever. But it's supposed to be really hard to get. The bird is located in a bamboo forest not to far from here actually. Everyone who attempts to find the Blue Bird disappears."

Yuuko shot a glance at Inuyasha. "Find the bird and it will tell us where to go. In the meantime; Watanuki, Mokona, and I shall find transportation."

"Wait a minute," Shippou piped up, "Is it really necessary to find this Blue Bird? Do _you_ know where the heart is located?"

"I have an approximation," Yuuko said, "Unfortunately it is not nearly as accurate as is needed. It is essential to obtain the bird."

"Keh."

XxX----------------------------------------------------------------XxX

Inuyasha, Kagome, Shippou, Miroku, Sango, and Kirara strolled down a hidden path in a lush bamboo forest. The massive green bamboo trees overshadowed much of the path. Nevertheless, the sunlight still managed to filter through from up above. The songs of the birds could occasionally be heard if one listened carefully.

"Shouldn't the Blue Bird be around here somewhere?" Shippou asked.

"Keh. That's what that witch said," Inuyasha answered.

"Why don't you like her?" Shippou asked Inuyasha curiously. "I like her. She seems to have good intentions. Well for the most part," Shippou interjected quickly after eyeing Miroku.

"She gets really weird and annoying," Inuyasha said irritably.

"Look who's talking," Shippou remarked arrogantly. Inuyasha punched Shippou on the head. Shippou hopped into Kagome's arms for help.

"Kagome!" Shippou wailed. Then he noticed something lying on the ground behind her. He hopped down from her arms, ignoring everyone else's confused looks and remarks, and picked up a bright blue feather. As soon as he picked it up, it started oozing out blood.

"What the hell?" Inuyasha remarked looking in astonishment at the feather. All of a sudden, the sun stopped shining leaving everything the forest much darker than before. It was impossible to make out who was there. Suddenly a chilling voice rang out.

"_What is lost to the world is gone forever. You, like many others, are attempting to find eternal lost. If you are able to keep your blood from mixing with the others' failed, you shall be able to find the treasure that lies ahead."_ With that, a massive maze rose up from the ground around them, stopping the once seen sunlight.

XxX----------------------------------------------------------------XxX

"Are you sure we are going the right way Jack?" a young man asked. He moved a strand of his blond hair from his eyes.

"It's Captain Jack Sparrow," said a scruffy older man with long, untamed, dark brown hair that fell past his shoulders. "Never forget that Will…"

"Land ahoy!" a woman's voice rang out. A second later, a pretty young woman in pirate's garb ran out on the middle deck.

"Are you sure Elizabeth?" Will asked in shock.

"Positive," Elizabeth replied sharply, "It seems is if we have landed in a foreign country. I see two people walking."

"Natives?" Jack asked.

"Probably," Elizabeth answered with a look of concentration, "They were wearing unusual clothes." Jack and Will ran to the top deck and peered out.

Sure enough, there were two natives walking. One of the natives was an adolescent with short black hair and glasses. He was carrying a small foreign creature in his hands. He wore a blue shirt that had short sleeves and baggy pants that were cut at the knees. Standing next to him was a tall woman with long hair wearing a breezy purple dress. They both eyed the ship as if they had been expecting it.

"Is this Singapore Captain Jack?" Will asked.

"This ain't Singapore," Jack said eyeing the woman, "But I think I like it."

XxX----------------------------------------------------------------XxX

"We're back where we started," Kagome said observing a stone that she had put on the ground when they started walking.

"It's really hard to find an exit," Shippou remarked looking at the massive green walls that surrounded them from all sides.

"What do you suggest we do Inuyasha?" Miroku asked exasperatedly.

"Well I can't break these damn walls," Inuyasha growled.

"We're trapped down here!" Shippou cried.

"No we're not," Kagome said calmly, "We'll find a way out." As soon as she said that, everyone could hear her words bounce off of the walls. The sound of something light and bouncy came a second later. Then a strange, massive, green, and hairy creature that quickly ran down a path in front of them.

"Let's follow it."

XxX----------------------------------------------------------------XxX

"What are we exactly trying to find? Watanuki asked Yuuko. They were walking on a picturesque beach. The ocean was spread out like a crumpled, dark blue blanket. Parts of the water caught in the sunlight and glittered in the bright sunshine.

"A boat," Yuuko answered dreamily. Her eyes were fixed on a boat coming to shore.

"For what?" Watanuki asked trying to peer at the boat.

"Do you really think Naraku will remain in the same island if many people are after him?"

"Oh…," Watanuki said catching on, "So we need a boat to get to the next island."

"Exactly," Yuuko said staring at the boat.

"That's a pirate ship!" Watanuki yelled pointing at the black skull flag.

"This is going to be so much fun! Mokona has always wanted to meet a pirate!" Mokona exclaimed happily.

XxX----------------------------------------------------------------XxX

Meanwhile, the Inu-tachi crept behind the enormous insect. It seemed to know its way around the maze. They had not encountered any dead ends as of yet. Now they were in some type of room with an open frame entrance and exit.

"Do you think we're there yet?" Shippou whispered.

"Probably," Miroku whispered back, "We've been trailing that thing for quite a while."

An instant later, the insect emitted a loud screeching sound as an enormous steel cage descended upon the terrified creature. An instant later a steel cage descended upon the Inu-tachi.

"Dammit," Inuyasha muttered, "This was all a trap." With that, he wielded Tessaiga and tried frantically to cut the steel cage. It didn't work. Next to Inuyasha, Miroku was studying his ofuadas as if deciding which one to use. Sango shot Miroku a nasty look and banged against the metal bars with her hiraikotsu. Kagome sighed as she watched her friend. She forced herself to focus and observe the cage. She heard the sound of footsteps a second later.

"It looks as if I am going to have a feast tonight," said the mysterious voice from earlier. The speaker turned out to be some type of sphinx with wings. The sphinx made a spectacular entrance as light shined on its gleaming coat of fur. Its massive golden wings were steadily beating behind it. Its face was soft with almost-shaped black eyes, a pointed nose, and pouted lips that were all framed around a brownish mane.

The winged sphinx walked on its four legs to the massive insect. A door materialized when the sphinx reached the cage. The insect tried to escape but the sphinx was quicker. It opened its mouth and swallow the insect. The sphinx turned to the other cage displaying a clear view of the half swallowed insect in its mouth with its eight hairy green legs still protruding out of the sphinx's mouth. Then it completely disappeared from view with a loud crunching sound.

XxX----------------------------------------------------------------XxX

Jack, Will, and Elizabeth stepped out onto the shore gazing out at the couple who seemed to be ready to meet them. Jack had all eyes on the woman. He had never felt more attracted to another person in his life.

"Excuse me," Will said slowly and formally, "Are we in Singapore?"

"No, this is Japan," the boy answered.

"And that's fine with us!" Jack exclaimed pushing a protesting Will of the way. "The name is Captain Jack Sparrow, commander of the Black Pearl. My two assistants are Will and Elizabeth."

"Assistants..?" Will and Elizabeth repeated incredulously.

"What about yours my lady?" Jack said quickly as he moved closer to the woman.

"Yuuko Ichihara," the woman said, "Of course that is only an alias.

""An alias…?" Jack asked grinning. He was starting to like this Yuuko Ichihara more and more by the second.

"That's right!" piped up the black creature. "I'm Mokona Modoki by the way! It's nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too," Will replied unsurely, "So umm…why do you use an alias?"

"The alias is used for protection of course Captain," Yuuko said smiling, "This person over there is Watanuki by the way," she said gesturing to the youth who was wearing a dazed look.

"Well you don't need to worry about harm my dear," Jack said flirtatiously. "I am a pirate after all. I have fought through many fatal battles."

"How did you survive?" Watanuki asked curiously.

"I am Captain Jack Sparrow," Jack replied nonchalantly.

"I am glad to hear that," Yuuko replied smiling devilishly.

"Speaking of pirates," Jack said his face inching closer towards Yuuko's, "Did you know that the first time you meet a pair ate you will fall fatally in love with him?"

Yuuko put a hand gracefully to the side of her face. "Indeed I have hard the saying before," she said sighing theatrically, "I remember the first pirate I met a long time ago…"

XxX----------------------------------------------------------------XxX

"Delicious!" The winged sphinx exclaimed after devouring the last of the enormous intersect. "What an excellent appetizer!"

"Look here whatever the hell you are," Inuyasha growled. "We came here to find some Blue Bird that is supposed to find whatever the hell is lost. We didn't come here to be eaten."

"You're looking at the Blue Bird of the Lost Oceans," the winged sphinx pronounced grinning at the startled faces of its meal," Of course that is my miniature form. Tell you what. I have been told that I need to exercise more so I'll play a little game with you all. I will release you from this cage and you will have a chance to try and weaken me back to my miniature form without getting eaten. Does that sound fun?" The Inu-tachi looked at each other and sighed. It's not as if they had much of a choice.

"Fine," Inuyasha muttered. The winged sphinx came up to the cage and a similar door to the one before materialized. The sphinx stepped back as the Inu-tachi stepped out. Then it gave the Inu-tachi a sinister grin.

"Let the fun begin."

The winged sphinx lunged at the Inu-tachi with speed that rivaled that of Ruby Moon's and Spinel Sun's. No. It was faster than Ruby Moon's and Spinel Sun's. Inuyasha was able to doge the sphinx's attack and wield Tessaiga.

"KONGOUSOUHA!" Inuyasha screamed at the sphinx certain that no one else was nearby. The attack missed and all the Kongousouha shards flew everywhere and struck the walls and protruded out dangerously like a porcupine's back. Inuyasha cursed as he realized he had made a stupid mistake.

The light grew dimmer and dimmer until the maze was pitch black. The Inu-tachi looked frantically around for the winged sphinx. It was nowhere to be seen.

"Over here," the sphinx called. It was up in the air above giving them a barely visible smirk. It launched down at them with its mouth open. The next thing the Inu-tachi saw was a red light.

-X-

The winged sphinx was pleased. It had taken only mere seconds to numb its meal. It happily took a bite. A second later, it quickly spat the meal out. Who knew that humans could be so tough to bite? It didn't matter though. After one bite, the humans always lost their minds. They would kill each other off. Hopefully they would be more tender dead.

-X-

Sango sat up. Somehow it felt painful._ Why? _She couldn't remember. She looked around and saw a young man who was dressed in purple and black robes of a priest. She didn't know why but she wanted to kill him. She wanted to grab her hiraikotsu and hear the satisfying crush of his bones. She reached for hiraikotsu and saw that an unfamiliar cat was calling her. _What is it doing here? _It didn't matter.

-X-

Miroku opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling. _Where am I? _He looked to his side and saw that an unfamiliar girl with some type of large weapon seemed to be attacking him. He had no idea why but he wanted to crush her. He wanted to hear the satisfying crush of her bones. He was ready to fight.

-X-

Kagome awoke to find herself watching a battle between two unfamiliar people. She didn't know where they and she didn't care. She wanted to kill someone. She didn't know why. She saw a strange man with silver hair and dog ears on his head. Yes. He would be easy to kill. She didn't know why but she wanted to feel the satisfying crush of his bones. She reached out for her bow and arrow and aimed it at him.

-X-

The winged sphinx chuckled. It was always fun to watch humans fight against each other. They were so weak and pathetic. The sphinx watched the intensity of the woman as she swung her massive weapon at the man. The man was just as quick and hit the woman with his staff. Now the girl was ready to attack the other man. The sphinx suspected the last two creatures to be dead. That's the way it worked. The weak would always go first.

-X-

Inuyasha stirred as he awoke. "Inuyasha," whispered Shippou, "Pretend you have lost all your memories and you want to fight against everyone. Let that sphinx believe it has won. Kirara and I are pretending to be dead." Inuyasha looked up and got to his feet.

Kikyou was standing in front him. No. It was Kagome. Inuyasha shook his dead. Why did he think that? After all, Kikyou was dead and she was not ever going to come back. He had to deal with it later. He had bigger problems at the moment.

For the sphinx's sake, Inuyasha drew out Tessaiga. He sliced the arrow nonchalantly with his sword. Then he raised Tessaiga over his head and aimed slightly to the left at a path that Kagome could dodge but had a chance to hit the sphinx. The attack didn't hit Kagome or the sphinx. Inuyasha cursed under his breath.

He looked around for a way out of this mess. Miroku and Sango were fighting against each other. Both of them were severely injured. He glanced at the sphinx who was licking its lips. If he didn't figure a way out of this mess, they would _really_ be eaten.

Then he felt something painful go through his stomach and fell. He looked down and saw an arrow. Kagome must have shot an arrow. Luckily, it wasn't that deep and it didn't miss anything. As he saw the sphinx come towards him he realized that this was his chance to get rid of it.

Inuyasha clasped his hand on the arrow pretending he was too weak to get it out. He let his other hand reach for Tessaiga. The massive sphinx was descending upon him. HE could see the black light from his mouth. This time he saw massive teeth. Just as the yellow pointed teeth were going to pierce him, Inuyasha took out the arrow from his body and stabbed it through the sphinx's mouth. He used his other hand to grasp Tessaiga and stab it through the sphinx's jaw.

He saw the sphinx back away while squealing in pain. The sphinx seemed to be transforming into something much smaller and blue. An instant later, he saw a tiny blue bird with gleaming feathers fly towards him.

"I'm impressed," the bird said in the same voice.

"What the hell did you do to my friends? Inuyasha asked angrily.

"All humans that enter my mouth lose their consciousness. Don't worry about shit, I'll help you."

"Why are you helping me?" Inuyasha asked suspiciously.

"I don't want to get my ass beaten out of me, that's obvious," the bird said, "Besides you were sent by the Witch of Dimensions. I can tell. If she sent you here, I must help you."

"Whatever just make my friends go back to normal," Inuyasha said irritably.

"Jeez, Can't you wait for a second dammit? I'm going, I'm going," the bird complained. It sang a high note and let it vibrate off the walls. Kagome, Sango, and Miroku looked out at each other in confusion.

"The sphinx…"

"I took care of it," Inuyasha said passively.

Nevertheless, Kagome ran up to him spotting the wound in his stomach. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Inuyasha muttered deciding not to tell her what happened, "It's nothing."

"You know," the bird said irately, "Instead of sitting on our asses, we can take a passage to get the hell out of here."

XxX----------------------------------------------------------------XxX

"What a charming ship," Yuuko said romantically as she looked around the ship again. Yuuko and Watanuki were being given a free tour of the ship by Captain Jack. Watanuki noticed that Jack found it necessary to point out where he was sleeping three times.

"It is a fine ship," Captain Jack said, "But it is nowhere near as fine as you my dear." Will and Elizabeth sighed.

"Don't become disappointed when you find out that there is only one of me," Yuuko answered smiling mischievously. Watanuki sighed.

"Indeed it stabs my heart continuously to think of this thought continually," Jack said theatrically as Will and Elizabeth both tried to stifle a laugh, "By the way did I show you my bedroom?"

"Yes you have. It seems to be a place where you can enjoy your time. Perhaps with someone else?" Yuuko asked winking.

"Maybe you can enjoy some time with me in there someday," Jack said grinning.

"Do you think he is drunk?" Will whispered to Elizabeth.

"He can't be. I tossed out all the rum," Elizabeth whispered back.

"Yuuko-san is such a wicked flirt," Watanuki muttered. He looked up and saw in horror that Yuuko was glaring at him in a way that gave him chills in the baking sun.

Oh sorry, did I make you jealous mate?" Captain Jack asked grinning. "Is Yuuko-san your girlfriend?"

"HELL NO!!!!!!!!!" Watanuki screamed trying not to blush at the thought of it.

"Don't mind him," Yuuko said eyeing the Inu-tachi who was arriving, "However we must be off. Farewell." Yuuko started to walk away, completely aware that Jack was following her. She turned and started walking towards the plank of the boat while Jack running behind her. Just before she was at a point where she would fall of the boat, she turned sharply and walked back to the entrance. Jack, who was too busy staring at her, didn't notice that he was at the edge of the plank and fell of the boat.

Will and Elizabeth ran at Yuuko with their swords drawn out. Inuyasha, who had stepped on the boat by then, casually punched Will. Will landed into Elizabeth, knocking both of them off balance and into the ocean.

"Are you sure it was okay to do that?" Kagome asked nervously.

"They're pirates, its fine," Watanuki assured looking at them in the water.

"We should go," Yuuko said looking at the three pirates who were trying to get back on board. Watanuki could have sworn he heard the sea calling him in.

XxX----------------------------------------------------------------XxX

Gomen nasai! Due to many reasons (mostly procrastination), I was late in updating once again. Please forgive me. It is my fault. I am trying to get this procrastination problem under control. I promise I will work on it.

So…how do you like the chapter? Good? Bad? I honestly don't know. My dear beta reader could only help me part of the way so for the rest….I'm on my own. Tell me what you think by clicking on that review button! There's no review limit though. That would be too mean of me.

I don't own Pirates of the Caribbean. They're only on here because I needed pirates and I have never watched One Piece. Pirates of the Caribbean belongs to Disney. Not me. I guess the trio is almost the same as the movie version excluding the fact that they're wandering around in the 1500s and somehow got lost in Japan XD (also exclude the fact there's no Norrigton or whatever the hell those guys were).

I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Till next time! Thank you for reading! Arigatou gozaimasta!


	11. kimochi

kimochi

_feelings_

Sango stared broodingly over the edge of the boat. Most people would have been taken in awe with the way the boat gracefully glided along the endless seam of azure. However, she wasn't in the mood. If anything, she wanted to throw something in the damn water.

Everything between her and Miroku had been going along smoothly like a delicately carved gemstone. Until that witch had come along. That woman was just something else. If she was even a human being, Sango wasn't quite sure. Either way, everything had transformed into a crumpled mess.

"Sango-chan," a voice called softly from behind her. The sudden sound felt like a bee sting to her.

"Oh Kagome-chan. You startled me."

"Look Sango-chan," Kagome said urgently, "I want to talk you about the Dimension Witch."

"_Wonderful,"_ Sango thought_, "Just what I need."_

"I know you don't like her," Kagome continued.

"Well OF COURSE I don't like her," Sango snapped irritably," All she does is boss everyone around and flirt with all the men."

"I know," Kagome said understandingly in an almost maternal way, "I don't like her either. But you're the one with problems. If I were you I'd stop her before she successfully seduces _your fiancé_." Sango was silent for a minute.

"What should I say?" Sango asked slowly. "I can't be too rude to her. We're stuck with her now." Kagome observed the Dimension Witch, who was happily chatting with that bird, from a distance with keen eyes.

"Hmmm….I think you should tell her how much Miroku-sama means to you and how she has absolutely no right to steal him away from you, especially since you're engaged now," Kagome answered.

Sango took a deep breath. "I'll talk to her in a minute."

XxX----------------------------------------------------------------XxX

"How long am I stuck with you guys?" the bird moaned. They had been on the ship for three hours. It had actually been a rather peaceful trip so far. There was nothing but the occasional breeze in the way. It was a nice change from the hurried pace they had been going at so far.

"As long as it takes for our mission to complete," Yuuko said lazily as she leaned unconcernedly on the railing, "It all depends on what happens next."

"Dammit," the bird whined, "Why? Why? Why the hell do I always have to be the one to suffer?"

"Hitsuzen," Yuuko said unveiling her well-known devilish smirk.

"Well screw hitsuzen."

"Watanuki!" Yuuko called cheerily while ignoring the bird's last comment. Her indentured servant hurriedly came over to her holding a platter of sashimi.

"Yay! The sashimi is here!" Mokona chirped cheerfully as it bounced around giving an impression that it was as light as air, "Yum! Yum!"

"What the hell took you so long kid," the bird snapped.

"I didn't know you wanted sashimi," Watanuki replied calmly.

"Well what am I supposed to eat?"

"I actually thought you were going to eat worms," Watanuki said quietly to himself. Nevertheless the bird heard him.

"WHAT THE FUCK?"

Watanuki ignored the bird's continuous complains and looked out. It was a beautiful day. The sun shone down on the ocean giving Watanuki's eyes the effect of a glittering blue blanket. The weather was extremely mild. Watanuki enjoyed the sea breeze as it gently caressed his face.

"You really like it out here," Yuuko said softly as she leaned closer to him to get the sashimi.

"Yeah…it's such a nice day today," Watanuki said dreamily. Yuuko smiled as she watched him happily gaze out towards the ocean. She knew that nothing lasted forever yet for the slightest moment she had a fleeting wish that they would be frozen. It would be something if they could stay happy forever. Yes, it was completely illogical and ridiculous but she didn't deny it to herself just the same. Especially since she knew what was coming next.

XxX-------------------------------------------------XxX

After what felt like forever, Sango finally store over furiously to the Dimension Witch. The more she looked at the Dimension Witch, the more her rage blazed inside. Admittedly, Miroku was talking with Inuyasha on another part of the deck that was away from the Dimension Witch. It wouldn't stop that Dimension Witch though. It would take her two seconds for her to turn him on. That Dimension Witch just couldn't take a hint.

"_Miroku is my fiancé. He is NOT her plaything."_

Sango glanced back at Kagome who seemed to be looking forward the scene that was about to come. She suspected Kagome hated the Dimension Witch because of the whole Osuwarii incident. She knew how much that bond meant to Kagome. It was Kagome's special connection to Inuyasha that no one else had. She understood perfectly what Kagome felt like when the Dimension Witch shattered that special bond within two seconds. How could someone be so inconsiderate? Well Naraku was one person but Yuuko was their ally. She took a deep breath. The more she focused in on these thoughts, the more confident she felt. They were her supplement, her fuel. She was ready to face the Dimension Witch.

"Excuse me Yuuko-san," Sango said in a tone of barely concealed bitterness, "I would like to have a word with you." Yuuko simply nodded and lead her off to another corner of the ship as Watanuki, Mokona, and the bird eyed her with curious expressions. It was unclear whether Yuuko noticed the fury but if she did she made no sign of showing. She simply brushed Kudakitsune off the railing and turned around to face Sango with a rather stern expression.

"Now tell me what this discussion is about."

"Well you see," Sango started hesitantly, "I think you should um…lay off…houshi-sama."

"Why should I?" Yuuko asked calmly.

"Because," Sango stammered with a look of being completely taken aback, "He's my fiancé."

"Yet that didn't prevent him from stopping himself. He was the one who proposed our little agreement," Yuuko continued in the same irritating calm tone of hers, "If he comes up with the right amount of payment, then I will grant his wish. That's the way it works. It is up to hitsuzen. It's not necessarily up to my desire contrary to what you think."

"Not necessarily up to my desire," Sango repeated incredulously raising her voice, "You were leading him on the whole time. You even took off your dress strap right in front of him!"

"I have a right to crave what temptation delivers," Yuuko said in a somewhat cold tone that made Sango shudder slightly.

"You should still consider other people's feelings," Sango retorted as each word escalated in rage and volume, "All you do is just sit around and flirt with all the men while you send people off to do your dirty work. YOU'RE NOTHING BUT A GODDAMNED BITCH."

The Dimension Witch just stood there with the same calm expression as she stepped forward. Sango braced herself thinking that the Dimension Witch would slap her on the face or something like that. Instead, the Dimension Witch leaned towards Sango until her face was inches from her own.

"You're acting childish. This is your problem that it between you and Miroku. There was no reason for you to drag me into this. Someone who is brave enough to face reality tries to figure out a way to solve their problem on their own. You chose to put the blame on someone else. You need to learn to not always rely on your first instincts. The same thing goes to you Higurashi-san," the Dimension Witch said nodding at Kagome who was standing nearby. Sango just glared at the Dimension Witch.

XxX---------------------------------------------------XxX

When Sango finally walked away, Yuuko sighed silently to herself. It had been a long time since someone had called her a prostitute or a whore. Of course the times had changed since then. Those words didn't hurt anymore. She had power and control now. People grow from their experiences.

_I owe that all to you Midorkio-sama. You helped me rise to the position I am in today. Defeating Naraku should be adequate payment. Don't you think so?_

"Yuuko-san…." Yuuko snapped out of her dreamlike trance and turned her head slowly around.

"What is it Watanuki?"

"What happened between you and Sango-san? I heard her screaming at you a minute ago and now she looks really depressed. What did you say to her?" Watanuki asked hesitantly.

"I told her the truth," Yuuko answered in an almost pitying tone, "Sometimes it's hard for people to awake in reality. This may be because reality is too harsh for them. Or it may be because they themselves are too weak. We'll see what the case is soon." Watanuki looked at the ground focusing in on his thoughts.

"You don't fall in either category," Yuuko said smiling, "Thee proof of that is your existence. Don't sacrifice it so easily. Watanuki looked up at Yuuko. For just a moment, he thought he saw Himawari, Kohane, and Doumeki stand next to Yuuko. He put a hand to his head. He must have been seeing a mirage or something.

"I won't Yuuko-san. I promise I won't…."

XxX--------------------------------------------------------XxX

"You really blew it this time monk," Inuyasha muttered as he eyed Kagome and Sango from another part of the deck.

"I know I did," Miroku said sighing.

"Why'd you do it anyways?" Inuyasha asked gruffly, "That which is just an annoying, creepy, and bossy lady who had a lot of power."

"And your point is…."

"He's saying your taste is seriously messed up," Shippou said hopping onto Miroku's shoulder, 'I was just with Kagome and Sango. Sango sounds really depressed."

"I know, I know," Miroku said exasperatedly.

"Kagome sounds kind of mad too," Shippou continued.

"WHAT?" Inuyasha exclaimed. "Why is she? I didn't do anything unlike this hentai here."

"Well don't ask me," Shippou said exasperatedly, "This is just from what I heard."

"You've got to know something," Inuyasha growled impatiently grabbing Shippou by the collar.

"KAGOME!" Shippou screamed as he flailed his arms around.

"Osuwarii," Kagome muttered dejectedly.

As Miroku quietly watched the commotion he wondered why he asked Yuuko to bear his child in the first place. It all happened so fast. He was finding it harder to make out the truth. There were just distant recollections at how he couldn't resist when he saw how erotic Yuuko looked, the guilt when he saw Sango's anger, and that was pretty much it. One thing was for sure. He had fallen into a bottomless pit thanks to her exotic beauty and his own nature.

But it wasn't just that. Part of it was because of Sango herself. Deep inside, he knew that he would die in battle. He didn't want to cause Sango any more pain. How many times can a heart last if it is constantly being stabbed? Sango had experienced more pain in her life than most people could take. To hurt her even more as she lost another person she cherished…that would just be too cruel of him. But as he looked at Sango he wondered if it was even crueler to treat her this way.

XxX----------------------------------------------------------XxX

"What the hell is that?" the bird asked as the boat started to shake uncontrollably.

"Something's rocking the boat," Watanuki cried worriedly.

"Rocking, rocking, rocking on a boat in the sea," Mokona sang cheerfully.

"THIS ISN'T THE TIME FOR SINGING!" Watanuki hollered at a giggling Mokona as he braced himself by holding a wooden pole. It seemed as if someone was controlling the boat to make him fall off. As the boat tilted drastically from side to side, Watanuki felt an overwhelming urge to throw up as an unknown aura was shrouded around him.

Suddenly a sea of white emerged from the water and loomed over his head.

"_I'm doomed,"_ Watanuki thought as the wave's force dragged him away from the pole and shot at him with full force. He felt himself being swept hurriedly along a mass of white. After what felt like an hour of two, he finally slammed into a hard wall that could potentially shatter his spine.

"Are you all right Watanuki?"

Hell he was not alright. His whole body was numbed with cold and pain from the wave. He now knew what it felt like to have someone beat you with a wooden bat and have them chuck you into a freezer afterwards. He was also dripping so much water he had formed a miniature pond around him. As he looked around him, everyone looked equally wet and miserable (except for Yuuko and Mokona).

"I'm fine," he lied as he tried to get up. He looked up and saw that he appeared to be inside some type of building made out of hard glass. After about one second, he couldn't look up any longer. Whatever was lingering in his stomach was heaving to get out right now. As Watanuki was on his knees looking down at the floor a moment later, he realized he was vomiting blood.

XxX--------------------------------------------------------XxX

If you're reading this you're probably beyond pissed at me for not updating for so long. Well the truth is…I've been busy. Trust me, when you get a sore throat and a diarrhea you're in pain. I was also in Washington D.C and NYC for Winter Break and I just got back yesterday.

So yeah….That's my crappy excuse. I am also going to be realistic and say that I'm probably not going to update for a while. Like for a month. I have finals coming up and I'm getting the lowest grades that I've gotten in three years. No joke. My parents are going to slaughter me if I get one B and I currently have two. So I'm dead. Basically.

This chapter is….short. Sorry about that but I just had to give some much needed character development. They've been running around like marijuana-dosed jackasses for the past ten chapters, they really need a break to bitch around in short. I feel like I leave a lot of character out for some chapters. But anyways….I hope you liked it. Yeah and pardon my rudeness but I'm seriously jetlack. I need an aspirn. Thanks for reading and hope you'll read the next one. I'm out.

P.S: My beta reader looked at the comments and told me "bi-polar..much". After finding out what bi-polar meant I have to agree. Forgive me, forgive me. Now out.


	12. Shittai

Shittai

_Fault_

"Watanuki!" A pool of crimson encircled around him and slowly spread about the ground. His face was a sickly pale and his azure eyes grew distant. A second later, his body gave out and slumped down. Before his face reached the blood-stained ground, Yuuko gently caught him. A brief sign of concern struck her face as she slowly rose back up. Mokona stood on her shoulder as it gazed out in worry.

"What the hell happened to the kid?" Inuyasha asked as he focused his eyes elsewhere. He was looking around distractedly at the tiled clear glass that wrapped around them. The midnight blue of the ocean enclosed them from all sides. Despite the fact that they seemed to be at the bottom of the ocean, there was a faint glow of light coming up from the high ceiling above. "And what is this place?"

"This is an underwater estate that was built by Clow Reed centuries ago."

"An underwater estate…"Kagome mumbled to herself.

"So why are we here now?" Inuyasha asked impatiently.

"To give payment for the key of heart," Yuuko answered simply.

"Don't you have enough stuff already woman?" Inuyasha blurted out rudely.

"This isn't for me."

"That's a surprise," Inuyasha muttered under his breath.

"This payment is for Naraku's alliance Fei Wong Reed," Yuuko continued.

"WHAT THE FUCK?"

"It is the only way to pass." Yuuko said flatly.

"Keh. I'm not giving that bastard ANYTHING. You hear me?" Inuyasha pouted stubbornly.

"You don't have to give up any possession you are currently holding. The same thing goes for the rest of you." Yuuko's words were met with stunned looks.

"So what do we have to give up?" Sango muttered irately.

"You'll find out once you get there," Yuuko answered. For a minute, everyone gave each other reluctant stares. Finally, Inuyasha spoke up.

"Keh," he growled, "So how the hell do we do this?"

"There are five rooms," Yuuko said, "Each person will enter an individual room alone. That person must then face the challenge in that room. After that is dealt with, that person will enter the next room where the key of heart is located." Everyone silently nodded their heads in consent.

"Shippou-chan," Yuuko said, "Please watch over Watanuki. Mokona and Mugetsu should help you.

"What about you Yuuko-san?" Shippou asked.

"I'm going into one of the rooms." Her words were met with silence.

"Hurry up," Yuuko said impatiently, "We don't have much time left."

XxX----------------------------------------------------------------XxX

Inuyasha stared at the glass door standing in front of him. He tried to peer inside the room through the door. The room was completely dark.

"Keh." Inuyasha turned the crystal doorknob and stepped inside. The door closed behind him and left him in complete darkness. It was as if he was standing alone in the middle of a field on a moonless night.

All of a sudden he felt something prick the back of his neck. He abruptly turned around. There was nothing there of course. Even if there was something he wouldn't know about it.

"Dammit." Inuyasha drew out Tessaiga as a precaution. He felt extremely stupid just holding it out in front of him with no opponent in sight but he kept his stance nevertheless.

Inuyasha soon felt something claw at his right shoulder a second later. In response, he furiously swung Tessaiga and watched it slice the air. "Dammit." To make matters worse, he could feel the blood from his would slowly slither its way down his arm.

He soon felt numerous blows surround him from all sides. Inuyasha continued to wave Tessaiga around but it was completely useless. He couldn't use Kaze no Kizu or Bakuryhha in this darkness. The last thing he needed was a way to accidentally injure himself.

"_Think,"_ Inuyasha thought to himself_, "What do I need to do?" _Inuyasha felt his attacks slowly increase in blindness and recklessness. As much as he hated to admit it, this whole atmosphere made him feel kind of uncomfortable. He knew that he needed to think of something quickly before he panicked and did something stupid.

What he needed more than anything was to see what the hell was attacking him. It was too dark to see anything. What he needed to see… was _light_. That was it. Finally, it took him long enough.

Now the question was how to get light. Inuyasha decided to run forward in hopes of eventually running into a door and opening it to get some light. Well he did run into the wall. There was just one problem. There was no doorknob to open. He swore quietly to himself and furiously tried to search for another door.

Inuyasha stopped after his third attempt. Or more accurately, he decided to stop before he gave himself a concussion from slamming into all those walls. There must be a way to see those bastards. A way that wouldn't result in anymore stupid injuries hopefully.

He pondered his options frantically as he tried to fend off his unknown attackers. What could he do? Inuyasha tried to think of ways to get light. Well Kagome had brought this weird thing from her time called a flashlight but he didn't happen to have one on hand. What else?

Well in this time, he mostly got light from the sun. But there was no way to get any sunlight in this room, was there? Inuyasha looked up. There was definitely a ceiling up there somewhere. If he could cut part of the ceiling he could get some light from another room. It should work. This room was on a lower level from what he last remembered.

Inuyasha jumped up and cut what seemed like a circle from the ceiling. As he jumped away from the path of the falling part of the ceiling, he could finally make out what was standing below him. A bunch of demons with a small physique were looking up fearfully at him.

"Light sure makes a hell lot of a difference, doesn't it you cowards?" Inuyasha taunted as he flew down to snare his prey with a grin on his face, "KAZE NO KISU!" With one yellow beam, the demons were instantly engulfed in a light of death. Inuyasha landed gracefully and slowly tilted his head up to the ceiling. The cutout light from the ceiling gave him an impression of the moon.

"It's better if the moon is always shining," Inuyasha said haughtily as he walked to the now visible exit.

XxX----------------------------------------------------------------XxX

Kagome swallowed as she approached the glass door in front of her. It had been a while since she had last remembered being alone. The prospect of facing something that could potentially send her to her death didn't help with matters either. She could feel her hands shaking as she was about to turn the crystal doorknob. She stopped and took a deep breath.

"_I need to stop this. Everyone else is also facing this alone. I need to be brave for everyone's sake. I can't let anyone down."_

Kagome quickly turned the doorknob and threw the door open. Standing in front of her was a gigantic red demon. Its bloodshot red eyes were permanently narrowed into a piercing glare. It had a large and muscular physique that could easily snap her in half.

Its fingernails were the longest that she had seen in her life; they appeared to be the length of a standard metric ruler. Equally disturbing was the foot long silver horn that struck out from the back of the demon's head. Blood stains topped the tip of the horn in the same way red icing would.

"Mmmm," growled the demon as it eyed Kagome.

Kagome took out her bow and arrow and fired at the demon. Her aim was a little off due to her nerves but she predicted the arrow's path would still strike the demon. Unfortunately, her prediction was inaccurate due to the fact that the arrow went straight through the demon and didn't cause any damage whatsoever. _What the…?_

"Too bad little girl," the demon smirked as it drew an enormous half ring in front of itself with its hand flat and nails perfectly poised to rip out its target, "That's a pretty powerful purifying arrow actually. Too bad it didn't work."

Kagome was barely to doge the demon's claws. _"What should I do? My arrows won't work on him. There's no other way for me to attack him! What am I going to do?!"_

Kagome tried to race for the exit but she couldn't see any. Desperately, she tried to reach for the entrance but the glass door seemed to have disappeared. She could feel all the panic and fear explode from inside her. Like a gas bomb, the poisons decided to spread out and fill up all the space they could find. Pretty soon, it would be impossible to breathe.

"Got you," the demon smirked as one of its hands grabbed one of the arrows and pierced her stomach to the wall. As Kagome winced with pain, she noticed that the demons free hand seemed to be blocking something from view. Whatever it was, it was something that the demon didn't want her finding out about. The demon walked to the right of Kagome and tried to grab one of Kagome's arrows. In essence, it forgot to block the view of its secret. Kagome peered as the object discreetly as she could and saw that that it was some type of metal object shaped into a hexagon. Kagome decided to shoot at it nevertheless. If it was precious to the demon, it was precious to her.

"No!" the demon screamed as it saw Kagome fire at the metal object. Luckily for the demon, the arrow missed. A sigh of relief filled the air.

"See little girl," it whispered tauntingly in her ear, "You can't even beat an illusion." It grabbed one of her arrows and held it above her shoulder, poised for the kill.

"NO!" Kagome screamed furiously. With that, she wrestled the arrow from the demon's hand and fired quickly at the metal object. This time, the arrow reached the center of the object. Kagome turned her head. The demon was gone.

Kagome reluctantly pulled out the arrow her stomach as she tired to ignore the searing pain. _" If I didn't panic before, none of this would have happened." _She sighed and made her way to the now visible glass door.

XxX----------------------------------------------------------------XxX

Miroku's face was perfectly composed as he entered the room. _Calm…fierce…solemn…_That was the visage of a warrior awaiting his next battle. Everything else must be disposed of elsewhere.

What was awaiting in the room was a spider that bore the impression of someone massive, hairy, and intimidating. It smirked devilishly as it watched Miroku enter the room.

"How nice," it crooned, "To have my snack finally come."

Miroku chose to remain silent as he prepared to open up his Kazanna.

"Now, now…" the spider crooned. "Don't be so impatient. I have a little something to show you first. With that, the spider opened its mouth as wide as it could. The spider unleashed some hole that's wind pulled everything towards an everlasting oblivion…just like Miroku's Kazanna.

"What the hell," Miroku swore under his breath as he looked around for a steady object to cling onto. There was none. Desperately, he tried to thrust his staff onto the floor and cling onto it. However, it didn't work due to the fact the staff was reluctantly gliding in the air's direction.

"_Dammit,"_ Miroku thought to himself, _"I'm finished. I just hate having everything end up like this…"_

However, as the light faded from view, Miroku thought he saw Inuyasha for a second.

"Don't die on me, monk!" Inuyasha growled. Miroku smiled as he felt himself being dragged into the spider's mouth. Inuyasha had just reminded of him some very important points. As Miroku formulated a plan in his mind, the spider closed its mouth and swallowed.

"What will you do now, monk?" the spider boomed haughtily. A second later, it started feeling queasy in its stomach. Two seconds later, the spider saw the monk came out of its stomach holding his staff out to the front. The last thing the spider saw was a glimpse of the ofuada the monk had attached to the top of his staff.

"I'll blow your guts out," Miroku muttered as he looked down at the scattered limbs of the spider. He sighed in relief. That he had been way too close. He shouldn't have lost control like that. Sighing again, he made his way to the next room.

XxX----------------------------------------------------------------XxX

Sango was in an all-out war with herself as she entered into the room. One part of her was telling her to calm down and trust what the Dimension Witch said. The other part of her was telling her to find that Dimension Witch and slice her in two. Sango halted and tried to clear her mind. Her father had said an overemotional tajiya was a bad tajiya.

Sango slammed the door open in any case.

Inside the room awaited a gigantic snake. Like so many other demons she faced, it hovered over her with an inflated amount of arrogance. Sango was relieved as she examined the snake. It was just another weak demon.

"So I'm just another weak demon?" a voice growled inside Sango's head.

"What the…"

"That's right," the voice continued, "I read minds and I talk through my opponents' minds. There's nothing you can hide from me including that brother of yours."

"_Kohaku…"_

"Yes, that boy will die soon you know."

"No he won't. I won't let it happen!" Sango screamed as she charged at the demon. However, it seemed as if she was moving much more slowly than usual. Indeed, the snake was able to easily dodge her attack. She tried releasing hiraikotsu from her hand. However, she was unable to do so due to her slowed arm and wrist movement.

"Dammit, what's going on?" Sango muttered.

"I won't tell you," the snake hissed at her, "You're already been deeply trapped under the spell. Only when you figure what's going on will be when the spell will break."

Sango stopped and closed her eyes to think. What was this spell? She felt the snake wrap around her. In the state that she was in, this was inevitable. It would be better to just break the spell first.

She tried to guess what the spell was…She realized a second later that she had no idea. She decided to try a different method as she felt the snake wrap around her stomach. What happened before this all happened?

She had been arguing about Kohaku. What did that have to do with anything? Kohaku was just her brother. A brother that meant the whole world to her…A brother who she couldn't let go of…A brother who always made her go emotionally insane…The snake was wrapping around her neck…

Wait a minute, this was it. The spell brought out her emotions. It was just as her father said. When people lose control of their emotions it hurts them. This was it.

"Dammit," the snake hissed. The spell was broken.

"You know what?" Sango choked, "I'm tired of you. Hiraikotsu!" With a swift motion of her hiraikotsu, the snake was cut apart into two. Sango smiled and slung her hiraikotsu on her back. She decided that she needed to remember her father's proverbs more often.

XxX----------------------------------------------------------------XxX

"Dammit," the bird demon cursed as it lay dying on the ground. Some creepy woman had just came in the room a minute ago. The bird demon had charged straight at her along with a thousand other demons, just as they had been told. However, the woman was unaffected by their attacks.

The woman stood perfectly in place with no expression at all. Her eyes locked onto theirs. They wondered when she would attack.

"Look behind you," the woman uttered in response. They looked behind them to see a bunch of spirits rise up and strike them. Most of them perished instantly on the spot. He had not. Instead, he had got to listen to the woman in his last moments. He heard the woman thank the spirits. She said something about this incident settling their debts and hers…He wasn't sure. He didn't care. He just wanted to die as soon as possible. At least that would make him forget about his pain. This was his last thought that floated in his mind as he watched the woman walk away to the next room.

XxX----------------------------------------------------------------XxX

The key of heart was laid out in the center of the room. With an elevated crystal podium, it was impossible to miss the golden sparkle of the heart shaped key.

Within ten minutes, everyone had arrived in the rooms from the five different entrances. The group stared up at the key of heart with a hesitant look. Everyone except for Yuuko of course.

"Well aren't you going to take the key?" Yuuko asked.

"I thought there was some kind of stupid price or something," Inuyasha muttered.

"You've already paid it," Yuuko answered, "We all did.

"Are you sure?" Kagome blurted out. "I don't remember paying anything."

'So you didn't realize it…" Yuuko muttered softly as she took the key in her hand, "Well then…I'll just tell you this. There are others watching." Yuuko turned and walked out of the room with the key in hand.

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Fei Wong Reed smirked as he observed this dramatic scene. It amused him to see the Dimension Witch act so calm when they both knew the drastic price they had all just paid. The price was a more than befitting exchange for the key of heart, at least in his opinion. Naraku wouldn't like it but it's not as if he was going to let Naraku find about his secret plan. Besides, he would get rid of Naraku soon enough. After all, Fei Wong Reed had just gained information on the weakness of those five people, rare information that he doubted Naraku knew. An advantage over two enemy parties indeed….

Through the surveillance of those five rooms, Fei Wong Reed had been able to easily discover the weakness of his enemies. First off, that hanyou Inuyasha was afraid of the darkness and the unknown. A common fear. Nevertheless, it would be much more vital in his plans later. Fei Wong Reed also had a guess that Inuyasha turned human on the new moon. He knew that all hanyous turned full human once a month. It made perfect sense. From Inuyasha's fear of darkness to him saying that its better if the moon was always shining…It fit perfectly.

Next was that human girl. She seemed like a weak person at first. A weak person who lacked confidence. Another common fear that was easy to play with. However, Fei Wong Reed had learned to not underestimate this girl. When she gained confidence, he discovered she much more capable than a glimpse's first impression gave.

The monk and the tajiya weren't much of a threat to him. Nevertheless, he still had to observe them as a measure of precaution. The monk apparently had something powerful in his right hand. From the monk's shimmer of recognition when he saw the wind tunnel, Fei Wong Reed guessed the monk had a wind tunnel in his hand or something. However, it would be easy to defeat the monk. It seemed as if the monk was afraid of having everything around him sucked up. It was obvious. He was afraid of loneliness. It was funny how most humans had the same simplistic faults, wasn't it?

The tajiya was a slightly different case. She seemed to be emotional during battles as demonstrated by the spider's powers. Once again, a common weakness in humans. That was extremely easy to take advantage of. All he had to do was to devise a situation where she would lose it. For that he would need the boy Kohaku. During the battle, Fei Wong Reed had convenient access to her thoughts and was thus able to delve deep into her mind for information. Apparently, this Kohaku had the last Shikon shard. How convenient. All he had to do was remove the shard when that tajiya was around. As he liked to call it, he eliminated two enemies with one swipe.

The witch's case was the strongest. Her price wasn't even delivered in the battle room. It was delivered right before when that spirit-magnet boy had been poisoned and fainted. Fei Wong Reed noticed that the Dimension Witch was the one to catch him before he fell face-flat into his own blood. He also noticed that she seemed to be in a hurry to pay the price in order to save his life. It was way too obvious to him. The Dimension Witch cared about this boy. Whether she viewed this boy as a son, friend, or lover it was all the same. All these relationships were products of love and love was one of the greatest weaknesses in human nature. Love was what made people weak. Love was what made the Dimension Witch weak.

Fei Wong Reed smirked as he replayed the weakness in his mind. The unknown, the lack of confidence, the feeling of loneliness, the lost control of emotions and love…They were all common traits of weakness. They were what separated him from them. They were what would grant him victory.

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Oh noes! It looks like a broke a new record in the latest update. Anyways, I hope this chapter didn't end up becoming the first four letters of the chapter title Shittai. I have to admit, this chapter was difficult to write. I almost gave up this whole fic at one point due to a decline in interest. However, I pulled myself together and came up with this. Yayies for me.

So what's up with that "I'll blow your guts out?" Actually, I think that phrase is trademarked. I'm not sure. Anyways, this is the battle phrase often used by Tokiko Tsumara from the series Busou Renkin. You know, that girl with that huge scar across her nose. Anyways, this series was created by none other than Nobuhiro Watsuki (Rurouni Kenshin anyone?) and is awesome but underrated. It also leads to next my next note that….

I am currently working on new Busou Renkin fic called _Cosmic Eyes_. It's set to premiere in five weeks…right after episode 26 (the finale). That is if fanfiction dot net ever listens to me and makes a freakin section. Anyways, where was I? Oh yeah…I'm currently excited about this fic and I have to admit I'm currently enjoying working on this one the most. I'm also kind of nervous because of the miniscule fanbase for Busou Renkin so I would like to shamelessly advertise it. Go check it out! Now to my second to last point…

So what's going to happen to this fic? Well originally this was planned for a trilogy. This was going to be the first part, and the other two were to be double sided sequels (think xxxHOLiC and Tsubasa). Well scratch that. I cannot handle the Tsubasa/Inuyasha crossover that was supposed to happen afterwards. I'm sorry, I just can't handle it. As for the other sequel, I'm just turning it into a stand-alone xxxHOLiC fic called yuuwaku BUTTERFLY. It should come out after this fic is finished. If this fic ever finishes.

Lastly, I want to wish my dear friend Greenfairyhime a speedy recovery ). Everyone's been sick lately (including me) so we should all know how it feels…Anyways, gotta go now! Ja ne!


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